The Dangers of Distracted Driving

The call still haunts my ears. My mom crying into the phone, “Summer is in the ICU, I need you to go to the hospital I’m on my way now but your way closer than I am…” It plays back in my head multiple times a day. I told my husband to watch the kids and I jumped into my car to head to the hospital. When I arrived, I find out the harrowing truth, my little sister was in a horrible car accident. All we knew was that she ran a red light, and the cars collided. Since that day 3 weeks ago, the imaging has played out in my mind in every which way. My sister was one of the safest drivers I had been in a car with. She would never ever intentionally run a red light. So, the questions started pouring into my brain and it ran through every scenario possible, like trying to find the missing puzzle piece. Did she fall asleep at the wheel? Was she messing with the radio? Oh no, was she texting or messing on her phone? I just had to figure it out because nothing made sense. She has been in a coma since this happened, so I have yet to know the truth of it but all I know for a fact was that she was distracted when driving.

It is one of those things you truly don’t understand the ultimate consequences of. Have I reached to fumble with my phone to check a message or change the song when driving? Yes. Has it resulted in a fender bender before? Also, yes. It seems like such a simple thing everyone should know the consequences of, but we don’t register it until it happens to us. Driver education is so important to teach teenagers as well as reiterate as adults. I truly believe that when it comes time to renew your license you should always have to take some sort of education course, or watch an educational video, about driver safety to serve as a reminder to those who may have been lucky enough to skate by without practicing safe driving, because all it takes is one time. Wearing a seat belt, following the speed limit, and most importantly allowing yourself to be distracted when behind the wheel are all important safety steps when driving a vehicle. I have had experience being young and dumb in a few car accidents. I totaled my car when messing with the radio on the way to school, my friend totaled another one of my cars fooling around. I have seen others driving irresponsibly and I have personally done it myself. However, that all changed for me when I had my children and the risk of harming my children in an accident was not one I would ever be willing to take.

Beyond safety features such as seat belts, I think highlighting distracted driving is the most important thing you can do in advocating for safe driving and reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving. Distracted driving can be in 3 different categories, manual, visual, and cognitive. I will go in depth into each one and explain how to avoid each kind of distracted driving. I believe education on these issues starting at 16 when you are of age to get your license can truly help.

First, there is manual distraction, where your hands leave the steering wheel. This can take the form of messing with the radio and reaching for your phone, to very common occurrences in everyday drivers. It can even be eating while driving, which many people also try to do. Other less common may be smoking, applying makeup, or even just reaching for a drink. The solution is pretty simple starting with keeping your phone out of reach to remove temptation or habit. Making all adjustments as needed before you begin driving is another important step. Lastly and more plain and simple is just do not reach for items while driving whatsoever.

The second type of distracted driving is in the category called Cognitive. This would be anything that takes your mind of the task at hand, which is driving. In my opinion I would think this may be the most common type of distracted driving, despite maybe not being the highest risk for a car accident. This can be as simple as talking to your passenger or daydreaming to your favorite song. However, it can be many things completely out of your control such as a crying baby. I remember when my daughter was born for the first year of her life, she would not go in the car without crying herself to sleep. It made it very hard for me to drive anywhere and I had to limit how much I would drive. I planned grocery trips for when my husband was off work, and I limited our trips to just taking my son to and from school. It was tough but it felt very dangerous to drive in the car when she was screaming. Solutions to cognitive distractions would be to make accommodations when you can, avoid conversations and even hands free phone calls, keep your emotions in check, and stayed focused on the road.

The third category and probably most common to cause an accident is visual distraction where you are taking your eyes off the road. This could be anything from reading a text message to looking at your GPS. However, it can even be something as simple as turning around to look at your children in the backseat or glancing at objects unrelated to the road. The best solution for this is to set yourself up for success, get your GPS through your car at an angle where you can still see road and set your playlist up before driving. The bottom line in regard to visual distraction is that it is a must to keep your eyes on the road at all times. Taking your eyes off for even a second can cause catastrophic consequences.

I believe it is so important to put your phone away when driving. It is the best thing you can do to keep yourself from being distracted. It does not stop there though; you should also keep yourself as free from distraction as possible. If you can prevent being distracted manually, cognitively, and visually, you will have the best chances at avoiding a car accident. Education on these different types of distractions is so important, while most think it borderlines on common sense, many people especially teens should be taught this early on so they can see what distracted driving looks like and what the repercussions of it look like. The repercussions can be fatal and selfish. It not only changes your life, but the lives of all the people who care about you, as well as the lives of and innocent that could be involved in your collision as well. There is so much than just yourself to think about before you let yourself get distracted while driving. With education starting from teen years, as well as certain reminders (a print out, a video, mandatory to get or watch) when it comes time to renew your license would also help in reitierating the importance of being distraction free when driving.