Multitasking: Not Intended for the Road

Emily Schrock

Multitasking: Not Intended for Drivers

Driving means freedom. Freedom to fly down the streets with the windows down, to blast music, and to be carefree. Freedom to do whatever one wishes, because after all, driving means freedom. With freedom, however, comes great responsibility.

Under the influence of passengers, or even by oneself, any given driver may be tempted to give in to the lingering distractions that envelop his or her mind. All the “fun” privileges that are associated with driving can effortlessly take one’s mind off the wheel and onto another task. With the windows rolled down, a driver may want to view the scenery in the surrounding environment, removing his/her eyes and thoughts off the road. With music blasting, the driver will be unable to hear what is going on around him/her. With an easygoing mindset, the driver will be overconfident and unfocused on driving. While driving, it is safest to keep both eyes and mind focused on the road.

Multitasking is defined as “the performance of multiple tasks at one time” (Merriam Webster). Although this art appears as something that accomplishes more in less time, it is the opposite. One’s attention is divided into two different tasks rather than simply focused on one; therefore, there is less attention on each task. This is applicable to driving. When a driver’s mind or eyes wander elsewhere while being an operator on the mobile, their attention is divided onto both the distraction and the road; therefore, there is less focus on the road with distraction. One second of attention off the road can take a life.

In order to prevent the absurd amount of deaths that occur each year as a result of distracted driving, each driver should be required to be educated on the risks of distracted driving. Personally, “A Deadly Wandering” by Matt Richtel has inspired me to act against distracted drivers and should be a reading requirement for all drivers. Multitasking in the car is not only a distraction to the driver, but also an extreme safety hazard to fellow drivers on the road. Action must be taken so that this death toll decreases.

A huge distraction (especially for new drivers) is the cell phone that follows the driver wherever s/he goes; beeping, alerting him/her of what his/her friends have done, etc. The driver’s trained instinct is to pick up the phone while driving, which is typically what he/she does. This is a huge safety hazard, as it takes the driver’s attention from the road and shares it with the phone. The way that this problem can be solved is by requiring each phone to automatically shut off while driving.

My family got into an accident because of the distracting scenery outside of the vehicle. Fortunately, no person was injured, but it remains a scary event in our minds. We learned from this mistake and have made efforts to be safe by letting our brains be consumed by the road alone. No distraction is ever worth taking a life to react to it.