Silence Your Cell and Your Passengers

I’ve
watched my dad answer emails while driving on a road where the speed
limit is 50. “Can I help you?” I’ll ask, hoping the answer will
be yes and he’ll hand over his primary distraction. 3 out of 10
times that’s the case, but it’s the other 7 that I worry about.
While my dad believes in his ability to multitask, he forgets about
the lives of others in his car. I also worry that my brothers, both
attached at the hip to their technology, will see this and follow my
father’s example. While the message that we shouldn’t text and
drive has been drilled into teen’s heads since the time they got
their driver’s permit, our parents haven’t received the same
courtesy. The fact that I have to check my father’s tech use while
in the car is a twistedly backwards situation. Personally, I tuck my
phone out of sight whenever I start my car. It stays on do not
disturb while driving, so that I cannot be distracted by any buzz or
ding. If I have a friend or family member in my car, I give my phone
to them to act as a “secretary.”

Driver’s
Education can play a role in not only changing the driving habits of
their students, but their parents as well. By implementing a plan for
students to check their parents technology usage in the car during
the course of the classes, Drivers ed can help alter the
tech usage of parents as well as their teens while driving.

Along
with getting rid of my phone as a distraction, I also have one very
vital rule that I implement when driving with my friends to help
insure all of our safety. While I adore my friends, sometimes they
are incredibly… loud. In fact, sometimes they have so much passion
for something that they start screeching, screaming or yelling. Call
it whatever you want, but it is not allowed in my car. I banned
screaming in my VW Beetle after I turned through an intersection and
three of my friends in the car started screaming. I was terrified
that a car was about to hit us, or that one of my friends had gotten
hurt. But no, they were all just excited about a post on social
media. My heart was racing, my fingers were trembling, but most of
all, I was mad. Their excitement had endangered their own safety, and
they didn’t seem to understand that.

I
highly recommend that Drivers Ed curriculum introduces a noise
level rule to their students. It improves the focus of the driver,
and focus is crucial for beginning drivers. By helping students
understand the dangers that excess noise can pose, Drivers Ed
helps to prevent any possible fatalities.

As
our world becomes saturated with distractions, the best thing we can
do is eliminate the ones we can control. Distractions like technology
and noise level can slowly be phased out by a new generation of
drivers, all thanks to the education they receive early in their
driving career. With our secretaries and quiet passengers, we can
make the roads a safer place.