Five-second Future

It was summer of 2021. I was diving to marching band camp. I had gotten my license just two months before, and was sporting my late Grandmother’s car. Moving 45 miles per hour on State Street I was going to be ten minutes early to camp. Only then, a car backing out of its driveway T-boned me. As I was spinning out, the sound of the impact resonated in my ears and continues to, to this day.

Not only did this experience traumatize me, but it also ruined the value of my car, almost totaling it. Luckily, the spirit of my Grandmother kept me physically safe, but I came out of it a different person. How would I have known that person would decide to drive then? I learned the terrible fact that some things cannot be controlled.

Or can they?

The Utah Department of Public Safety confirmed that between 2017 and 2021, there were over 27,000 crashes due to distracted driving. 83 people died. Distracted driving seems easy to fix; just stop texting, be alert, don’t eat food in the car, but that is not the case. Many of these practices are challenging to break, and most people have not experienced the consequences of distracted driving, so these habits continue. 

James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, is a professional in making and breaking our day-to-day patterns. One way he emphasizes to break habits is by starting small. Do things one step at a time. For driving, this could take many forms. An example of distracting driving is eating while driving. Digging your hands into that fast food bag to grab some chicken nuggets seems harmless. After eating one nugget, you realize it is a little dry, so you navigate the bag for the ranch container but can’t find it. You take your eyes off the road and focus on the bag. You see the ranch, but now you have to open the seal, dip in the chicken, and finally, it reaches your mouth. That may have taken less than five seconds, but in that time, you might have veered off the road a bit, the person in front of you might have slammed on their brakes, or you just ran a red light. 

In just five seconds, you could have hit someone.

You could have ruined someone’s day, car, or life.

Of course, we are told to avoid eating while driving, but in those hungry minutes between the restaurant and home, it is difficult to not take one bite. To break this habit, start small. Make a rule that to keep your car clean, enforce that “No one eats in the car.” This takes the focus off the bad habit and onto a more convenient, good one. Start putting food in an unreachable point in the back. Give the food to a passenger and make them hold you accountable. These are small steps that can help avoid five-second accidents. 

Cell phone use is another form of distracted driving, possibly most unavoidable. You get a little lonely and decide to call Mom, get an email you need to read that second, or reroute your destination. Pulling over takes so much time. Work starts soon, and being late will cost you money, status, and possibly your job. You do not have time.

Time.

How little of it we have.

We take as long as possible to leave the house because we dread our destination. We avoid pulling over because we are held to such high standards. We stare at the clock in our car every second, dreaming that it slows down so we don’t face the repercussions. Even the stress is distracting. It is exhausting.

We cannot change the standards in a short amount of time, but we can change the time we leave. Leaving early for our destination gives us time. It allows us to be safer drivers. It saves lives, families, people. It tells us we do not have to make split-second decisions. 

Driver education needs to emphasize the importance of leaving early. My most stressful and frankly horrible driving incidents happen when I am late. I start speeding, changing lanes more often than I need, and thinking rude things about the other drivers. The importance of leaving at a time that helps you drive with a sound mind must be drilled into young drivers’ brains. If leaving sooner, you won’t need to text your date, “I will be five minutes late,” or type directions when on your way to the destination. Another bonus is allowing your car to heat up before driving, improving its performance and life. 

Rather than forbidding something, we must use reason and build habits that prevent distractive practices. Drilling the root of the problem into young drivers, and making a space where it isn’t necessary to check the phone or grab a fry will guarentee less distracted driving. You can change someone else’s life in just five seconds, so keep five seconds from destroying what you have built. We must begin to build habits now that guarantee a higher probability of safety on the road. You don’t want to be the one who decides to buy extra time for the cost of a life.