DRIVING WHILE DISTRACTED

DRIVING
WHILE DISTRACTED

Just like most 16 year old students, I enrolled in drivers ed
at my high school during my junior year. I found it extremely
exciting that I would be driving a car around town with two other
students. However, I quickly learned that is was more scary than
exciting. For a small town, we have a lot of traffic and some very
aggressive drivers. The experience I gained with an instructor
sitting beside me explaining how to handle each situation was so
important in my training. I feel this training helped each student
in our car to pay attention to the road while watching other drivers
around us to avoid possible accidents.

There are many different steps that I feel can be taken to reduce the
number of deaths related to driving. The number one reason for
accidents is distracted driving. Whether it is texting while driving
or under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances, the
distraction takes the drivers attention away from the road. It can
only take an instant of distraction to cause an accident. I feel all
automobiles should have safety devices that do not allow phone use
when the vehicle is in motion. If a person needs to make a call or
send a text, pull the side of the road to avoid this distraction.
Also, faulty maintenance of a vehicle can also cause accidents. I
know most states require inspection of cars on an annual basis, but
some equipment should be check on a more frequent interval. Tires,
Brakes, Lights, etc. should be checked regularly to avoid causing
accidents.

Several months ago, I was involved in an accident. I was driving to
school in the morning and I was driving well below the speed limit
because I knew the traffic was heavy. I was fully paying attention
when a distracted mother and son pulled right out in front of me. I
had no chance to avoid hitting her. We were practically right on top
of her when she pulled out into my lane. I swerved to miss her, but
did not have enough time to avoid the collision. If I had not been
paying attention, it probably would have been a different story. I
would have hit her fully on the driver’s side instead of the front
quarter panel of her car. The mother was distracted and said she
never saw me coming. Although all of us sustained minor injuries
and both vehicles were totaled, the outcome could have been
completely different. We were lucky one of us was paying attention
to the road.

If I could give one word of advice to drivers today, it would be to
pay attention. Do not drive while distracted. Put away your phones,
do not drive impaired, and keep your eyes on the road. Not only is
this important for your safety, but it is important for other
people’s safety as well. Thank you for your consideration for this
scholarship.