The holiday should be a happy time for families.

Sadly, the holiday season is often marred with tragedy on the roadways.

Many people are traveling to celebrate Thanksgiving with their extended families.

In the past few years, national news reports about a disturbing number of traffic fatalities linked to mobile apps should be taken seriously.

During this season in recent years, a New York Times report linked the spike in traffic deaths to popular cellphone apps. Distracted driving is a major contributing factor in the high number of traffic fatalities, despite numerous public-information campaigns and laws prohibiting use of smart phones while driving.

Traffic safety experts say distracted driving comes in many forms, the most common being texting and driving, but even hands-free devices contribute to traffic accidents, according to safety experts.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has said devices intended to keep drivers less distracted and more focused simply don’t get the job done.

Unsafe mental distractions can persist for almost half a minute after dialing, changing music or sending a text using voice commands, according to the foundation.

AAA has said, “… hands-free technologies can mentally distract drivers even if their eyes are on the road and their hands are on the wheel.”

Some in-car systems may be slightly less distracting than others, but all hands-free car systems and cell phone apps have varying degrees of distraction and could compromise a driver’s ability to focus. 

Hands-free does not mean distraction-free because the mental distraction can be the most dangerous diversion of all when driving.

Studies have indicated unsafe levels of mental distraction can last for as long as 27 seconds after completing a distracting task in the worst-performing systems studied, according to one study.

At 25 miles per hour, researchers said drivers traveled the length of nearly three football fields during the same amount of time. When using the least distracting systems, drivers can remain impaired for more than 15 seconds after completing a task, a study indicated.

We are entering the heaviest travel time of the year during the holiday season.

We hope our readers whether adult drivers, teen drivers or the parents of teen drivers will heed these warnings and stay safe on our roadways.