Technology and Distracted Driving

With the rise of technology has come the rise of distraction while driving. We are now able to communicate with our friends, family, and even strangers through text messages, Facebook messages, Twitter, and a slew of other social media. This has made us more unaware of our surroundings than ever before. While there are benefits to all this rapid technological advancement, there are also severe consequences and dangers that can occur when using these technologies. The most obvious and fatal consequence is the increased risk of accidents – drivers may be and are distracted by their cell phone while driving. With advancements, people can see when their message has been delivered and read, and it creates a sense of urgency and expectance that someone will reply immediately to messages or that they are ignoring the message. With this new technological communication culture and nuance, people are replying to messages and using their phones while driving, despite the risks involved in doing so.

Some states have enacted laws concerning cell phone usage. These have proved to decrease cell phone usage only slightly. After all, it is logical. If someone would risk their life to use their phone, why would they stop using their phone at the mere and lesser risk of getting a ticket for using it? The answer is simple. They are not going to stop using their phone when they are driving at the risk of a ticket.

Phones are not going to go away. According to Pew Research, “The vast majority of Americans – 96% – now own a cellphone of some kind. The share of Americans that own smartphones is now 81%, up from just 35% in Pew Research Center’s first survey of smartphone ownership conducted in 2011. ” (” Time For a Cell Phone Use at Work Policy? | Fully …”) That means that the vast majority of Americans have a phone. Many studies have found that many Americans also use their phone while driving. People are not going to stop using their cellphones while driving; that is the unfortunate fact. What better way to remedy this problem than with innovative technology? It is time for everyone to take control of their own lives. Already, there has been a rise in self driving cars with Tesla being one of the first companies to use this technology and make it widespread and a functional reality. As these cars become cheaper and the technology becomes more advanced, the danger of using your phone while driving will drastically decrease. According to Fortune, “The so-called distracted driving controversy, in which drivers endanger themselves by paying more attention to smartphones than to their driving, may be solved by advanced technology that allows distraction, only more safely.” (Levin, D., Sep. 2014) This was said in 2014 and since the pledge that Toyota took to include many features in their cars that would make it less dangerous to be distracted while driving, the technology has expanded into common usage. Most cars now include automatic parking and similar resources, and in the near future it is completely possible that most cars will be able to entirely drive themselves and communicate between each other to create a safe driverless environment where people can still get away with using their phone while driving.

Some Tesla drivers have been recorded sleeping while their car drives on the highway. Although it may seem like insanity, this may eventually be the new normal. According to CNBC, “In the U.S., the average, one-way commute time is 26.1 minutes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. If you commute to a full-time, 5-day-a-week job, roundtrip that adds up to 4.35 hours a week and over 200 hours (nearly nine days) per year.” (“Study: States with the longest and shortest commutes”) That means those 200 hours a year are completely lost time that could be being used for purposes such as communication, work, sleep, eating, and other activities. With reason, people feel the need to use their phone and feel like something productive or relieving is being done while driving.

As such, technology can and will have a massive role in not putting an end to distracted driving, but surely alleviating and decreasing the risks that currently come with distracted driving.

About the Author:

Admitted into college at 14, I completed 79 college credits as well as an associate degree in Engineering Design Technology — summa cum laude — as a high schooler. I have now finished a Certificate in Business with 21 further credits in May 2020, summa cum laude as well. I will be studying Interior Architecture and Design at Mercyhurst University as part of the honors program there. An immigrant from some African islands belonging to Spain, I am thoroughly fluent in both English and Spanish as well as an elemental written and spoken Japanese. I am learning Kanien’keha (Mohawk) from a Native American colleague as well. I am fond of languages and cultures and enjoy trekking around the world. In my free time, I delight in reading, sketching, painting, apologetics, writing (I have written two novels), making people laugh, singing, playing one of the 10 different instruments I can play, devising 3D models, and whatever else I can conceive.

Despite the myriad of achievements I have attained thus far, the road has been anything but easy. From an early age I underwent bullying, derision, and inequity from my peers for having a foreign accent, for being physically darker than them, and not receiving as much and similar material things due to my poverty. This emerged as soon as I started attending school and has lingered since then. I know how it feels, so I make a point of alleviating others that are worse off than me in that respect. About five years ago, something in my neck snapped and I could not move it without crying or passing out in pain for a week. I was never able to get it looked at because my parents could not afford it. Ever since then, I have had various health issues that became more apparent. I have hurt my neck several times. I have tested positive for loads of allergies. I am constantly in pain. I still do not know what is amiss with me, and after receiving Medicaid, have been told by several doctors that they can see something is wrong, but are not sure what is specifically provoking the issues. I cannot play sports anymore. The last few times I hurt myself. I cannot exercise without being scared I will hurt myself again. I still push through, though. I always will. Life is worth it.

When I was a member of Boy Scouts, the opportunity came up to complete a STEM award with an engineer and I seized it. I learned about computers and all their parts and functions and concluded I loved that field. I started 3D modelling on Blender around this time as well, around the age of 12. When I was 13, I spoke to some representatives from the local college and told them some of my interests. They told me I should check out the Engineering Design Associates, and I was accepted into the college and started taking classes. I learned about multiple CAD software and about materials and engineering and civil. There was one class, however, that I truly shone in. There was an architecture class and I thoroughly enjoyed drawing and designing buildings and infrastructures. During that class, we had a project involving the design and planning of a container home. We had multiple specifications such as the amount of rooms required and a limit to the number of containers as well as the sizes of the containers. I had so much fun and was so skilled at doing this project that I even had time left over and decided to do a non-required 3D rendering of the house. I took a couple of days to do that, and by the time I showed my instructor the finished work, he claimed there had never been renderings that good done in his division. He encouraged me to consider going to an Ivy League and pursuing Architecture as a career. I graduated May 2019 from both high school and with an associate at the top of my class, summa cum laude.

As a first generation college student in the United States, the journey to knowing how to apply and prepare for college has been difficult. I have not had my parents’ previous knowledge of the education system like many others have and have had to make the way myself. Additionally, they have sadly informed me that they cannot assist me financially during college. They have been struggling to feed me for years now, and the last time I received new clothing (not hand-me-downs or thrifted) was when I was 6. I will have to work as many hours as I can take on during college and skimp on everything possible.

One day I hope to have sufficient income to not only cover myself but have enough to help others as well. I hope to stretch my abilities to the farthest possible. My parents will no longer be able to financially support me in any way after I set foot out the door, so I hope you will become a part of my journey and help me towards this goal of sustaining myself and eventually others. I have hands-on experience with architecture, 3D modelling, animation, as well as engineering – I worked on a project for Caterpillar. I have no doubt I will complete my degree successfully and go on to be one of the best in the field. Thank you for considering my application.