Small Habit, Big Impact

In every coming-of-age movie, there is a single scene that seems so irrelevant to the plot but engrained in my head—the drive down a road at night accompanied by an addictive tune yet dangerous driving. Half of these scenes within media end in two dramatic different outcomes. One results in a “good time”, core memories made with friends. However, the other, takes a dark turn and can often result in severe harm or death.

However, my friends fall victim to that dangerous demeanor that although meant for no harm, could endanger lives on the road. Their distracted driving consisted of music, requiring immediate attention in order to ensure safety for not only themselves but others on the road.

To change the pattern of blasting music loudly while hosting a sing-along in the car—I had to first readjust their mindset towards driving and sit down with them into how I view and value our safety as teenagers. We should not driving for the karaoke sessions but to safely get from one place to another. In order to alter their mindset, I began by not queuing playlists and instead focusing on the exits and turns they needed to make when getting from Point A to Point B as a navigator instead. Simply, there is one action that forces poor driving habits to stop re-educating and relearning.

Although this may seem like a big extreme going from loud music to no music, it is necessary to ensure the safety of everyone on the road. By clearing distractions to my hearing, there was an immediate removal of all noise not sourced from the road. Doing so guaranteed that 100% of focus was on driving.

Additionally, this dangerous demeanor did not only apply to my friends when I was a passenger. Even if I appeared like a party pooper or Debbie downer, I had to emphasize the rules of my car when driving friends. I ensured that my friends played music at a very low volume or no have no music at all. With certain playlists, there could be the temptation to blast it at a much higher volume and sing along. However with this new mindset I possessed, I made sure that my friends skipped those tempting songs, or I, turned off the song and explain how it was too distracting for the driver on the road.

My friends might question my actions at times, but I reassured them that stopping the music is helping me as a driver and benefiting them as the passengers in the car.

However, I am also hoping that the actions I take will not only be ingrained into my driving skills but towards those around me. I personally will not play “sing-able” songs as a passenger in another’s car. I want to be able to ensure the safety of those around me, not only through the vehicles I am driving but for other vehicles on the road.

Small distractions—like music—can cause massive accidents on the road. In order to ensure safe driving and prevent distracted driving habits among young adults, small habits need to be addressed and educated among the driving population. To college, although I am driving less than at home, I know safety precautions will constantly be in the back of my mind no matter how small the distraction may seem.

By taking small precautionary steps every time we are on the road, we can encompass a greater safety for the general public one fixed habit at a time.

Our responsibility on the road begins before we step foot inside a vehicle. Learning the correct behaviors of how we can improve our safety as drivers begins with education. By ensuring safe precautions such as seatbelt usage, awareness, and yielding correctly, we can ensure a safe travel for all those traveling. However, we need to recognize the importance of what little behaviors can do in the long run of all our travels. Small yet destructive behaviors like loud music, loud conversation, distractions behind the wheel can lead to harmful destruction that was never first thought of as dangerous. Our education regarding our safety and what we may overlook needs to be addressed in order to ensure the safety upon the shared road.

I believe that with educating the younger generation about rules of the road that are perhaps not thought about immediately, we should see an improvement into our safe keeping as drivers. By being informed on the statistics of distracted driving, encouraging a different mindset to driving can lead all of us to a safer lifestyle for centuries to come.