Three Pillars Against Distracted Driving

The conditions were perfect for an accident: we were a carful of teenaged boys, driving home from a party along a 50-mile stretch at almost midnight. We hadn’t been drinking or anything – the party was a homeschool prom in rural Minnesota, an environment where dissipation of most varieties is heavily discouraged – but we were all in that elevated semi-exhausted, semi-exhilarated state that comes from being young and having danced. The two oldest – myself and the driver – were barely eighteen years old; we drove on as bouts of frantic talking were interspersed with tired silence. Of course, one of us had to call home to explain to his parents where he was at this hour, and when the driver asked for the phone so he could explain further, I knew I had to take action.

It was nothing particularly significant. I didn’t need to lecture or anything, but I just said, “We should pull over.” We did. The driver got on the phone, the irate mother was appeased, and we resumed driving. After a few minutes of silence, the driver thanked me for suggesting we stop. Everyone got home safely that night.

My point in telling this story is to show that very often, the most important thing we can do to avoid distracted driving is speak – putting in a word to suggest action, rather than remaining silent. Very often, a word alone is enough. People are often aware that they are getting carried away, but are waiting for someone else to signal that it’s time to stop. However, I argue that our words in moments of potential crisis only carry this sort of weight if three other factors – or pillars – are in place: integrity, a safe driving culture, and education. I define integrity and culture as the body of habitual actions we participate in, as individuals and in social groups, respectively, and I view education as the foundation upon which integrity and culture build.

Integrity involves taking the dangers of distracted driving seriously, regardless of whether I am driving alone or with others. This means that as a young person, I have to be aware that I am susceptible to distracted driving myself. I have to resist the temptation to change music or send a text while on the road. By maintaining integrity in this respect, I set an example – and that example can help create a culture. When I am among friends, I need to regularly encourage safe driving etiquette for both the driver and the passengers – calming the conversation when it becomes overly distracting; turning the music a little softer if necessary. I need to do all of this not in an overbearing and alienating way, but in a way that makes it clear I have my friends’ best interests at heart – and this means we need to have a shared frame of reference, which is provided by education.

By education, I mean a shared knowledge base that establishes what safe driving means, and what the risks of distracted driving are. This usually comes from taking driver’s education classes. Studies suggest a link between driver’s education classes and a reduced number of crashes and tickets; however, the studies show correlation, not causation, and the most significant decrease is in the number of tickets received, rather than in the number of actual accidents.¹ I suggest that the value of driver’s education lies less in the impartation of knowledge alone, than in providing knowledge from which action can follow. In other words, I can know the risks of distracted driving, and still engage in it – but, on the other hand, because I know the risks, I can therefore demonstrate integrity by acting to avoid those risks. Similarly, when I try to encourage safe driving among my friends, it helps if we have all taken driver’s education classes, because then I am not appealing to a personal driving preference, but rather to something we all know to be true. In that sense, the true value of driver’s education lies less in the education alone, as in how that education lays the foundation for integrity and culture.

In conclusion, I have highlighted three aspects, or pillars, of a solution to the problem of distracted driving. The first, personal integrity, is individual; the second, a safe driving culture, is social; and the third, driver’s education, is institutional. With these three pillars in place, I believe we can create a foundation within which our words and actions carry weight and lead towards safer roads for us and those around us.