Driving Responsibly for a better change

Young adults daily get behind the wheel and don’t realize that every time they use their vehicle they are always at risk of their own lives and the life of others. The first thing that comes to mind of a person who gets in their car is to get on their phone and play the right song or answer a text message. No matter how many times we hear about a car accident, people don’t seem to get the message across that the main issue to these distractions while behind the wheel is the amount of time spent on the phone and not paying attention to their surroundings. Not only does that put your own life at risk but others around you, we all have loved ones, dreams, and ambitions to succeed in life and it takes one person to take a toll on their lives. Regardless of if the person behind the wheel doesn’t get injured or passes away from the accident there is always that what if I would have just waited to put the phone down. We need to think about the consequences and sometimes these consequences lead to trauma.

I personally have been affected by a car accident with someone who was texting and driving and claimed to be in a hurry to work. That car accident had affected me mentally and I did not want to get behind the wheel for about two months. Luckily, I was able to recover from the injuries at the time with physical therapy but still suffer from pain from time to time. From then on, I have made it a point to not pick up my phone to check social media or responding to a text message. For some people it is easier said than done, there are many commercials regarding texting and driving and yet people don’t put a stop to the phone usage while driving. I think that making sure the law should keep reinforcing texting and driving can lead to serious consequences, if we are able to get behind the wheel, we should be able to clearly react and be vigilant on the road whether at a stop light or stop sign, highways, back roads, etc. we should be incompetent of continuing to practice safe driving. Not only do we need to take these precautions seriously, but the state should make sure we are following the law regardless of if being pulled over or not for something this serious. Many people get away with texting and driving which leads to almost all car accidents despite drunk drivers, many of whom do get away with drinking and driving and having that mindset that nothing will happen has to stop. It is not fair for those who do take these issues of phone usage while driving seriously until it happens to them, although that should not be the mindset to wait and see what will happen, it will, and it takes a person to really think about these consequences when it is too late.

The way we can start safe driving is by ignoring the fact that we have access to cellphones, have a clear mind and focus on the destination, as well being cautious that the speed limit is also taken seriously. People are always in a rush to get to where they need to be and do not realize that the speed limit plays a major role on the roads. If there is any need to use navigation on the road, people should utilize the activated voice to be able to have some control over the necessary uses of the phone. The resources are there for us as technology keeps advancing, why are people being stubborn and continue to put lives on the line whether people think otherwise. There are times when I am in a moving vehicle and my friends are trying to use their phone while driving and I remind them to not text and drive and seem to get their attention. I also try to encourage anyone I am texting if they are about to drive, to reply when they aren’t driving, so that way they know I care about how important it is not to text and drive. We need to surround ourselves with people who have an understanding of the message response can wait. We all need to remind ourselves and others who get behind the wheel how important it is to stay off the phone while driving and really take these life choices seriously. It doesn’t hurt to keep preaching about it as well to our younger generations who will soon start to drive and let them no message is more important on the phone than their own life.