MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Beware of the dangers of distracted driving

Apr 14, 2021, 1:11 PM | Updated: Apr 15, 2021, 8:46 am

Did you know it only takes three seconds to drive the length of a football field? Imagine looking down at your phone for that long!

KIRO Radio’s Tracy Taylor wants you to be aware of the dangers of driving during Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and all year long.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration, over 3,000 people died as a result of distracted driving in 2019. That’s a 10% increase from 2018. And on a typical day, more than 700 people are injured in distracted driving incidents.

In 2017, Washington state passed a driving under the influence of electronics act. It might sound silly, but Kelly Just with AAA told Tracy that their studies show it takes about 27 seconds for your brain to refocus attention after you put down your phone or finish with your voice to text system.

If you can travel the length of Lumen Field in three seconds, imagine how far you’ve traveled in the 30 seconds it takes to glance at your phone and then refocus your attention.

Tracy reminds drivers that you’re breaking the law even if you’re stopped at a light when you grab your phone.

You can hear Tracy Taylor several times an hour every afternoon during the Tom and Curley Show on KIRO Radio. Be sure to follow Tracy on Twitter

Outgoing Ukraine's Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov speaks during a briefing to journalists in Kyi...

Associated Press

Two very different men are at the heart of Ukraine’s political crisis

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — One is a tech-savvy drone innovator with no military experience who became Ukraine’s youngest defense minister six months ago and was credited with contributing to successes in defending against Russia’s 4-year-old invasion. The other is a seasoned, Soviet-trained general more at home with traditional top-down command culture who led Ukraine’s armed […]

2 minutes ago

FILE - Anthea Hartig, of the National Museum of American History, speaks at an event, Feb. 20, 2026...

Associated Press

Smithsonian history museum chief rejects White House criticism of its leaders as radical activists

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History pushed back on Tuesday against a recent White House report that branded the institution’s leadership as radical activists who cannot be trusted. “As we continue to fact check the report, we unwaveringly attest that it does not fairly or accurately characterize the […]

5 minutes ago

FILE - Thriller novelist Andrea Bartz is photographed in her home, in the Brooklyn borough of New Y...

Associated Press

Judge approves a $1.5B Anthropic settlement over pirated books used to train the Claude chatbot

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement in which artificial intelligence company Anthropic will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book after using pirated copies of their works to train its Claude chatbot. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said in a Monday ruling that the class-action settlement provides […]

37 minutes ago

coffee five cups a day heart healthy...

Charlie Harger

Harger: Coffee was going to kill you. Now five cups a day is heart-healthy. Check back in five years

The American Heart Association came out Monday and said five cups of coffee a day is safe for most adults.

43 minutes ago

American flags fly above the Lincoln Memorial, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jul...

Associated Press

US military identifies soldier killed disarming a drone in Iraq as a 30-year-old from North Carolina

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Tuesday identified a soldier who was killed while disarming an Iranian drone in Iraq as a 30-year-old from North Carolina. The military said it was investigating the death of Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton of Fayetteville during a controlled detonation on Sunday at an air base in Irbil in […]

1 hour ago

wsp trooper stalking ex-girlfriend...

Nia Bliss, KIRO 7 News

WSP trooper accused of stalking ex-girlfriend faces decertification

Oral arguments were heard on Monday for a WSP trooper facing multiple charges for allegedly stalking his ex-girlfriend, a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

1 hour ago

Beware of the dangers of distracted driving