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It is a beautiful day outside. There are no storms in the area and the skies are blue. Then suddenly, your power goes out. Many people think outages are caused by the weather, but a distracted driver might actually be the culprit.

Unfortunately, distracted drivers cause outages each year. Inattentive drivers have hit poles, guy wires and even pad mounted transformers, causing members to lose power.

In our digital world, people feel pressure to remain in constant contact, even when behind the wheel. As mobile technology increases, distracted driving – talking, texting, sending emails – is a growing safety issue. When distracted, drivers don’t realize the danger when they take their eyes off the road, hands off the wheel and focus on activities other than driving.

Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55 mph, that is comparable to driving the length of a football field while blindfolded. Talking on a cell phone also carries significant risks. According to the National Safety Council, drivers can miss seeing up to half of what’s around them – traffic lights, stop signs, pedestrians, even utility poles – when talking on a cell phone.

Safety is a core value at Blue Grass Energy, and we encourage everyone to join us in keeping our communities safer by putting down the phones and focusing on the road when driving. By focusing on the road, we can avoid injuries—and yes, even power outages.