Defeat Distracted Driving!

Despite growing up in slow-paced suburbs where all our parents commuted to workplaces an hour away into cities, I never really had a big urge to learn how to drive myself. Maybe it was the nostalgia from all the times on the metro with friends after school that I’m trying to hold on to or the fun carpooling to friends’ houses. Or maybe it was the weeks of pain that my mom went through as she dealt with whiplash and neck sprains from being rear-ended so many times on the roads right outside my neighborhood, roads where I’ve almost witnessed a fatal injury to a pedestrian in my 9th-grade year. For a long while, cars just looked like dangerous hassles that were not missed when entering the long months of quarantine. But if quarantine provided anything for my boring spring indoors, it was an opportunity to get involved and learn more.

Having worked for my county’s environmental department during the fall of 2020, my former boss had reached out to me with a volunteer opportunity with the department of transportation and their collaboration with the National Organization for youth safety. Vision Zero, a project started in Sweden and aimed at bringing traffic deaths to virtually zero, was coming to Montgomery County, and I had the opportunity to help as an ambassador. Tasked with creating a local campaign regarding preventing distracted driving to reach at least 100 individuals, I took to do some research and attend the vision zero workshops with transportation specialists. And what I found were horrifying statistics about how many lives were lost each year due to distracted driving, driving under the influence, and more. So many people were no longer here today due to such tragic situations that could’ve been prevented with putting your phone on do not disturb or calling an Uber home. Now being 16 and at the age where a lot of my friends were now looking to get their permits and licenses, I was more than invigorated to make a campaign that would specifically target the younger generation of drivers more prone to taking risks on the road and remind them of safer conduct for the sake of themselves and others. Taking all this information, I created an online pledge that informed viewers about the everyday casualties that can come from distracted driving. Signers would agree to be conscious of not texting, not doing activities that took their hands off the wheels, keeping their volume down to a level in which they can still focus on their surroundings, and of course, refraining from drinking while driving. I had worked hard to put a banner together (still nice looking, in my opinion) and articulating all the needed information to teenagers, and all that was left was to get the word out.

From school to work to friends, I let as many people know about the pledge and the dangers of distracted driving as the goal became more than just the 100 signatures and now out of concern and energy to share such important information. Those who cared also shared the pledge with others and the numbers grew quickly, reaching the signatures in a little over a week. I was blown away by the support given and how much defeating distracting driving was understood by my peers who also wanted to be safe on the road. By the end of the program, thousands of people had been informed by us ambassadors, and we had created a difference in a few short weeks.

Knowing that I could make such an impact at 16-years-old and stuck in quarantine was more than inspiring and established to me that there was no societal conversation that I was too young to hear about and get involved with. People around me were supportive of my cause but just needed the proper outlet to let that be known. Outside of online pledges that encourage signers to follow guidelines, ways to promote diligence on the road could involve county-wide PSAs to high schools and Universities that break down the facts of how many people die and get injured daily due to habits/actions young people take so lightly. It shouldn’t just be the people interested or affected by driving like me who should be privy to these horrifying stats. Presentations need to be given everywhere about how many people in that current county, school, city, and neighborhood had lost their lives because of reckless driving. Families shattered by lost loved ones should share their stories in front of students to instill the fact they are not as invincible as they think.

Moreover, schools should encourage more activism within their student body such as giving shoutouts to online social media pages that share information about safe driving, conducting interactive presentations or online modules during class that tests a teenager’s understanding of safe conduct on the road, and promoting the use of driving mode of student’s phones to ensure that notifications are minimized when on the road. On a university level, 1-credit courses regarding Dos and Donts on the road can be offered and/or mandated for enrolled students to take to ensure a competent student body. With most young people being clustered within academic settings, I feel that a progressive administration can facilitate the knowledge of safe driving and be a huge combatant against distracted driving.

Now attending University in the fall (still with only a learner’s permit to my name), I want to continue doing outreach to teenagers and ensure that the law of the road is more than understood by new drivers. I desire to join any community service organization on campus that would allow me to visit local high schools and give PSAs about the dangers of drunk, impaired, and distracted driving to get such essential and potentially life-saving information in front of as many people as possible. The road is a serious and potentially dangerous place, so having safe conduct be 2nd nature when at the wheel is imperative for all to have. And creating more change is the end goal.

Even while still car-less, the information I’ve gathered over the year and a few months of quarantine have reminded me of the detrimental effect I could potentially have on other people’s lives due to my recklessness and lack of knowledge about safe conduct. No one goes on the road thinking that they might be the reason why someone may not make it home safely today, but things like this do happen, so making sure to do everything you can to prevent that ever happening is a foundation I live by and want to encourage others to do so as well. Actions have consequences so let’s try to be the best drivers possible!

Pledge found here: https://www.change.org/p/montgomery-county-youths-defeat-distracted-driving-pledge-to-follow-guidelines