More than just buckling up

Driver Education Initiative 2020 Essay

“More than just buckling up”

Brent Houtchens

11/23/2020

More Than Just Buckling Up

We have gone to the grocery store hundreds of times. We have commuted to and from work thousands of times. We put no more thought into driving than we do walking, putting one foot in front of the other. It is easy to get complacent. In a world of technology, social media and streaming services are fighting for our attention and we don’t want to miss anything. We want to hear our favorite song while sending a text and checking how many reactions we got on our latest Facebook post. All it takes is a split second for an accident to happen. Diverting our attention from the road, even for a moment, can have tragic consequences.

There are things we cannot control. We cannot control the weather, we cannot control traffic, we cannot control construction, we cannot control the conditions of the road, and we cannot control the actions of the other drivers. All these elements add extra challenges to operating a vehicle. Why would we compound these challenges with even more hazards? Handsfree devices have made it somewhat safer to talk on the phone while driving. Our eyes are on the road, our hands are on the wheel, but there’s still distraction occurring. Besides, people like to text nowadays. In order to text while driving, you have to take your eyes away from the road momentarily, and then repeatedly go back and forth between watching the road and watching your phone.

About a year ago, I was driving for Lyft Rideshare in the vibrant, yet congested city of San Francisco. The roads are narrow, there are a lot of one-way streets, bicyclists are everywhere, horns are honking, it is chaos. An extra level of caution is needed to safely drive in the city. I was heading north on a one-way street in the far left lane when a parked vehicle to the left of me flew out of the parking space without checking his mirrors and clipped me. I had passengers inside the car with me. We sustained no injuries, but the damage on my vehicle was too much to continue to drive for Lyft. I had to shut it down, call my insurance, drive home, and start getting estimates on the repair of the vehicle. My vehicle was out of commission for two weeks following the accident. An accident I had no control over and could not prevent. We can do everything right. We can keep up on our oil changes and vehicle maintenance, we can use our turn signals, and we can drive the speed limit. Things can still happen.

When it comes to reporting drunk drivers, that is a responsibility we all have to help keep everyone safe. There are stricter laws now that attempt to deter drunk driving, yet DUI’s still happen constantly. People are still killed by drunk drivers. There is no excuse to operate a vehicle under the influence. So many resources exist now (Uber, Lyft, Taxi, Designated Driver etc.) Even walking or getting a hotel nearby are better than vehicle manslaughter, totaling a vehicle, and/or paying thousands of dollars in fines and having a license suspended.

Earlier I mentioned all the things we cannot control. So, what can we control? We can get adequate sleep. Poor sleep can result in slower reaction time. We can obey the traffic laws. We can check our phones prior to getting behind the wheel so that our attention is 100% on the road at all times. And if we must take an emergency phone call, we can pull over to the side of the road and attend to those matters. Driver safety goes well beyond just buckling up. We need to stay vigilant!