Keeping a Level Head

Only recently did I achieve one year of having my driver’s license. Since learning how to drive with my parents, older brother, and a personal driving instructor, it has been reinforced every outing that I maintain a fixed focus on the road–rather than on my phone. Even sitting at red lights, it has never been an option for me to check notifications and/or reconnect with the activity on my mobile device. First-hand experiences with distracted drivers reinforce to me the importance of maintaining this habit. 

The traffic on school mornings, for me, is often bumper-to-bumper once I reach a certain point on the route as all cars patiently wait to pass through this particular 3-way stop. There are several side roads, too, perpendicular to the main road on which tens of cars mosey. While braking at one of these intersections, I look to my right only to see a car rolling swiftly down the hill at my passenger-side door. I quickly honk my horn to alert the man behind the wheel. I watched the driver’s head rise and his eyes grow wide as he realized his mistake. Luckily, he was able to stop his vehicle from T-boning mine–with about 2 feet to spare. Frightened and breathing heavy, I call my mom in a panic for comfort. During our conversation, she reminded me that this is why it is important to be a vigilant driver who does what they can to eliminate possible distractions.

That day, I was positioned literally at the forefront of the reality that texting and driving is six times more deadly than drinking and driving, as indicated by accident reports. About a quarter of driving accidents are the result of testing while driving, and I was almost part of this statistic too. 

Young adults are continuing to develop an increasingly consuming need to maintain constant communication and use social media to feel connected to friends, family, and the world beyond them. As teenagers take on more responsibilities, however, this growing addiction jeopardizes not only themselves but also the others with which they newly interact. Especially for sixteen-year-olds who become the newest drivers, such an obsession poses a tremendous threat to all motorists as it diverts their attention away from the road. But, a multifaceted approach that integrates education, technological advancements, and parental influences can reduce the dangerous driving habit that is distracted driving. 

Primarily, educating new drivers why it is wrong to use a mobile device at the wheel will give them an incentive not to. By explicitly outlining the negative consequences of texting or using social media while driving, young adults will gain a better understanding as to why they should not drive with divided attention. Especially when teenagers understand that their lives and others are at risk of reckless driving habits, they are more likely to choose to practice responsible driving. Educating new drivers this way is particularly important because self-reflection and reasoning work cohesively to associate conceptual knowledge with procedural. This connection will contextualize the knowledge, so that when teens are in position in the driver’s seat, they are more likely to consider what they have learned about distracted driving before they make the decision to use their phone while driving. 

Schools–including driving schools–should emphasize and enrich safe driving lessons by inviting victims or survivors of distracted driving incidents to speak about the life-altering results of their accident. Seeing the effects or hearing first-person recollections makes the severity of irresponsible driving more surreal. Interactive simulations and/or realistic examples, too, will further stress the dangers of distracted driving. 

Most importantly, it is essential that the public blasts communication about this concern. Renowned industries, organizations, and institutions can use their large social media platforms to promote informative posts regarding the risks of inattentive driving. Additionally, hosting community-wide events concerning this matter ensures that people are talking about it. Doing both–flooding social media with campaign posts and organizing gatherings–spreads awareness so both experienced and non-experienced drivers are bound to practice responsible driving habits. 

Secondly, we can exploit technology’s newest features and our ability to continuously update mobile devices in order to reduce habits of distracted driving. As this technology is the root of the development of such dangerous driving habits, it is important that we make changes in this industry, too. For starters, Apple, for example, can work to develop a feature that recognizes travel at speeds above 10 mph and in this case, automatically silences notifications. GPS applications, also, can be updated to mute other activity when in use. The buzz or ding! that sounds when we receive notifications releases dopamine–a chemical messenger in our brains associated with gratification and reward–which deepens our addiction. Personally, after securing myself in my vehicle with my seatbelt, I activate my phone’s “Do Not Disturb” feature to silence notifications. With alerts turned off, I have less of a reason to reach for their phone while driving. Similar features can be implemented directly into vehicles’ systems that, when connected to mobile devices, further restrict access to distractions and discourage preoccupied driving. 

Finally, as teenagers idolize their parents and learn from their example, it is important that parents and older influences model safe driving. Even before either the parent or their teenager operates a vehicle, parents should have a momentous conversation with their teens–meant to educate them about responsible driving, the power of a moving vehicle, and how seriously dangerous distracted driving is. Then, when teaching their teenagers how to drive, parents should enforce that they drive with undivided attention; they should consistently ask that phones be put on “Do Not Disturb” to build a habit of doing so, for starters. And when parents operate the vehicle themselves, they should also exemplify the responsible driving habits they have taught their teens. By opening such communication and imaging careful driving, parents help promote a culture of safety and responsibility amongst driving teenagers.

Overall, young adults’ growing addiction to their phone poses a serious threat to them and other road users when they begin driving. Using social media and attempting to keep communication with friends, family, and others while operating a vehicle concerns all drivers, yet for teenagers, putting the phone down while driving is an especially hard challenge to navigate. Luckily, such risky driving behaviors can be minimized via educational reinforcements, technological developments, and parental involvement. Under the condition that our community cohesively insists that safety is our greatest priority, it becomes possible to implement these procedures to minimize the risks of sharing the road with new drivers and ultimately save lives.