Driving habits: The use of social media while driving amongst teenagers.

Making a new habit can be challenging. To achieve your goals, you must be persistent and keep reminding yourself of it until it becomes second nature. People in today’s world are very connected to one another, and they are constantly on their phones texting friends, going on social media, or using the phone to pass the time. This includes texting a friend while driving. As simple as it may appear, texting and driving is extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.  

A great way to reduce dangerous driving and achieve your goal of not getting distracted while driving is to attach a sticky note to your car’s steering wheel to remind yourself not to text and drive. This can be very effective as it reduces teens to texting or using social media while driving, because many don’t realize they are doing it until they are told they are since it’s a habit. 

Another effective strategy is to make an agreement with a friend to hold each other accountable. It is essential to stick to your habit, resist temptation, and always keep the benefits of staying focused on the road and not driving while distracted in the back of your mind. Friends are the best instigators and reliable in situations like this. 

I believe the best way to reduce dangerous driving is to turn your phone off while driving. This will make the person driving prone no notifications, no social media browsing, and no distractions while you try to decide which song to listen to next. Many teens believe they can both pick a song and drive at the same time which causes more accidents than we can imagine. 

Additionally, there are many apps to prevent getting messages while driving such as lifesaver, and drive safe. These apps will automatically text whoever is texting the driver to inform them that she/he is driving, and that the text will be answered later and if it’s an emergency there’s an option to notify them right away. 

Car accidents involving family members is a very sensitive topic for me. Two years ago, my brother got into a serious car accident, destroying his car. Thankfully, everyone no one was seriously injured; however, it was a very serious crash which could have been very harmful. I always wondered if it was my fault because he was on the way to pick me up.

A few months ago, I got into a car crash myself. This was the scariest moment in my life. As soon as I saw the car crash into me, my life flashed before my eyes and next thing I know I’m stuck in the car unable to move. At this moment, I knew what had happened and didn’t know what to do next. I later learned that the driver of the vehicle that crashed into me was likewise a teenager and was on the phone while driving the car. Although talking on the phone wasn’t the reason they ran into me, it may have been one of the factors. They may have been momentarily distracted by the call or may have briefly hung up for one second and boom car crash. It is as easy as that to make one simple text or look at the phone that can put your life and others in danger. Everyone makes mistakes that can impact life tremendously. I am only seventeen years old, and thankfully I haven’t made many mistakes, but I’m sure I will in the future, and I hope I will be able to overcome them. I acknowledge from my past experiences that some mistakes can be avoided while others cannot. Anything can happen in a matter of seconds. My brother and I are very lucky to not have been hurt, and I am very thankful for this.   I now realize to appreciate what life gives me, and my family I recently found out that where my car crash happened a lot of other people have been involved in similar car accidents as this is deemed to be a dangerous intersection, in the middle of two large neighborhood. I really wish something could be done to prevent more accidents in that place..

I believe that turning off one’s phone while driving and using apps that prevent receiving messages while driving are the two most effective ways to reduce dangerous driving habits. The government should pass legislation requiring everyone to have a that prevents them from receiving messages while driving. If everyone does this, car accidents will be drastically reduced.

Every year, nearly a million people in the United States are killed in car accidents, with the majority of them being teenagers. Unfortunately, the rates continue to rise. This needs to end!