One text. One second. One Mistake.

Briana
Passalacqua

DMV
Scholarship

3/30/20

One
text. One second. One mistake.

In just one
second; 4 babies are born, 20,000 cans of coca cola are sold, earth
travels 18.5 miles, and someone’s life can be changed forever. All it
takes is one second of distracted driving for a fatal accident. In
one second, a car moving only 40 mph travels 58.8 feet, the
equivalent to the height of a five-story building! When learning to
drive, you develop a certain level of care and attentiveness. Whether
it has been six months or six years as a driver, the attention put
towards the road should be at its absolute most in order to reduce
the number of driving-related deaths. It is imperative that the level
of caution possessed the first time one put’s their hand on the
wheel is the same every time after that. When I first learned how to
drive, I firmly gripped the wheel and my eyes remained straight on
the road in front of me. I couldn’t possibly glance as much as to
even look at the person in the passenger’s seat. When I passed cars
however, I noticed other drivers glancing down at their phone,
turning their heads to grab a charger, and focusing on their burger.
I didn’t know whether to be impressed by their multitasking skills,
or concerned by their lack of full attention to driving. I was unsure
as to where the line was drawn between being a comfortable &
experienced driver vs. being a distracted & reckless driver. It
wasn’t until one afternoon that this answer became very clear to
me. I was driving along the usual road that takes me home from
school. It is fairly straight, not very busy with cars, and the speed
is 50 mph. As I was driving on my daily route, I noticed a car about
100 feet away approaching from the other direction. As it neared me,
the car suddenly jeered to the left and nearly skimmed the side of my
car. I flinched as we passed, and was shocked that the car so quickly
jerked out of control. I continued on driving though, slightly
startled, but fine. I soon heard a loud screech, and in my rearview
mirror I came to see that the car had veered off into the ditch on
the road behind me. I later found out that this accident was caused
by texting while driving and simultaneously being startled by
roadkill. Although the driver was ok from crashing into the ditch, I
couldn’t help but think of what would happen if that driver had
lost control of the wheel a little sooner. Fortunately we never
collided and my situation did not turn into what could have been
fatal. At that moment, I realized I could be doing everything right
while driving, but all it takes is one ignorant person to ruin the
others’ life. Don’t be that person. Don’t be the one
distracted. Be the educated one accounting for every second.