No Text Is Worth It

Catherine
Beckwith

No
Text Is Worth It

As a teen in today’s society, I recognize
we are constantly surrounded by distractions which often include
distractions behind the wheel. These distractions include, but are
not limited to friends, phones, talking, music, lost in thought, etc.
Like most teens, I began drivers ed shortly after my
sixteenth birthday. I was extremely excited to start this new chapter
of my life and enter into the “adult” world, but I was soon faced
with the reality and great responsibility that came with driving a
vehicle. I believe the most impactful lesson I learned from driver
education classes was by getting behind the wheel, you are not only
putting your life at risk, but the lives of everyone around you. I
learned that you need to be an attentive and defensive driver because
even if you are following all the rules of the road, the person
driving next to you might not be. Fortunately, I have never been in a
bad car accident myself, but I have seen numerous videos shown in
class of very bad car accidents that could have easily been
prevented. Speaking from a teen’s perspective, our phones are a
growing distraction to all drivers behind the wheel. They have become
almost an obsession which is impossible to put down. This, however,
comes at a price because as I learned in class, it is the leading
cause of distracted driving accidents. This can easily be prevented
if people realize it is psychologically impossible to fully focus on
two things at once. People tend to put more of their focus into
finishing those last few words in a text than on the busy highway in
front of them. Those seconds of pulling your full, complete attention
off the road puts everyone’s lives in danger. In my opinion, this
is the most important lesson to focus on when educating new drivers.
We live in a society where we have almost become numb to news stories
of car accidents because they happen so frequently. What if we could
change that? Educating the next generation of drivers about the
dangers of distracted driving is essential. No text is worth putting
your life at risk. Absolutely no text. Driving is a great power and
with great power comes great responsibility. We have lost too many
people to distractions and better action needs to take place. Parents
and older friends and family need to set the example for new drivers.
I think it would be a good idea if programs were placed in phones to
detect the speed it is moving at and shut off all non-essential
applications, such as texts, while driving. Another idea would be to
create an incentive for not picking up the phone while driving. This
could be an app you log into before starting your car ride and if you
do not pick up your phone until you reach your destination, you get
rewards. Ideas like this and others may help save lives.