A driver was absorbed in the audio version (thank God) of "The Four Agreements," when he lost control of his car and careened into a driveway ... slamming into a car and then striking the driver who was running for his life.

The distracted driver had the volume cranked up as he apparently reached for his phone which had fallen to the floorboard. The man he hit looked like a rag doll as he went airborne.  His daughter watched the whole thing and was remarkably unfazed.

The distracted driver apparently took the book-on-tape to heart ... as the author reads, "You're impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions," the driver checks on the driver to see if he was okay, and he was not. The victim says he has what appears to be a torn muscle/ligament around the ankle area.

It gets worse ... the driver allegedly had a suspended license .... which is weird because he was driving an Avis rental car.

The victim, not surprisingly, says he's gonna lawyer up.