Distracted Driving

Sometimes I forget which pedal is the gas and which is the brake. Don’t worry, I don’t get behind the wheel often. My feet know immediately now but when I first began driving, if I thought for too long, I wouldn’t be sure of myself. There are plenty of rules you are told when you begin to drive, for example: “Don’t text!”, “Don’t change the music!”, “Please stop looking at the geese we passed instead of oncoming traffic!”. While these may seem overbearing to new drivers, they are warranted. The death toll of drivers has been allowed to rise for far too long. Many families suffer greatly every year due to lives that are claimed on the road. While there exists a narrative in which one imagines fatal crashes to be caused by a drunk driver or another irresponsible impairment, most of these incidents occur due to distracted driving. Distracted driving can happen for a multitude of reasons but the ones I am going to be focusing on within this essay are the innate dangers of distracted driving, and the perils of ignorance on the road. I hope this essay will pique the interest of readers and leave them with thought-provoking concepts, leading them to reflect upon ways each of us may improve our driving.

After a year on the road, I can say I’m a considerably less distracted driver than I was when I began. As I drove, I became more aware of discomforts and unknowns that captured my interest from the road such as navigating, important emails or even just finding the right song to start my day. On average, teens get into 3 times as many crashes as adults and approximately 40% text and drive (CDC 2022). This is for a plethora of reasons, often teens will answer texts, change music, apply makeup, etc. A few ways that I attempt to minimize my distractions while driving is through first, reading through the route to my destination beforehand so that I have a fairly clear idea of where I am headed, second, placing my phone on “Do not disturb” while driving, and finally queuing up music before I begin my drive. These simple changes allowed me to become a significantly more focused and aware driver, doing my part to contribute to the safety and health of my society.

The reality is that you can try to minimize those distractions but sometimes drivers for whatever reason will miss an important indication that may lead to danger. I think this is where those instincts come in, because realistically it takes two or more to crash a car. As a driver, you must make sure you are doing your job correctly, and that you are aware of others as well. Focusing on music, conversations with friends, or even cutting small corners because you are late will inevitably lead to catastrophic consequences. When drivers first get behind the wheel, there is a thin bubble of ignorance in which they believe the people around them are fair drivers and will accommodate small mistakes. This harmful ideology has led to many incidents and cannot claim more lives. Minor distractions may seem inconsequential but experienced drivers know that one small mistake is all it takes. Strict focus means not only being meticulous with yourself but being cognizant of other drivers and their mistakes. This skillset is only achieved through practiced driving. But these distractions don’t change as you get older, your experiences as a driver make you more keenly aware of the impacts. New drivers can’t fully grasp the sheer possibility of damage until they have driven enough to cultivate those instincts.

For these reasons and many more, I feel the best way to minimize distracted driving is by driving. I intend to advocate for a policy in which individuals are given permit access for a longer period along with a mandatory minimum time for driving practice. Many states do not enforce a specific number of hours of driving practice before an examination and it’s very easy to not be distracted for 20 minutes if you know you can do whatever you want for the rest of your life following this miniscule period. Enforcing a period of driving, not just a timeline for holding a permit will set a minimum time at which drivers are expected to not only cultivate lifesaving skills but experience the chaos that may lead to collision, and over time this will lead them to think twice about taking their eyes off the road. Distractions are going to happen, but we as a society can come together to keep them from claiming more of our loved ones.

Works Citied:

“Teen Drivers and Passengers: Get the Facts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 Nov. 2022, www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html.