One Moment is all it Takes

A year and eight months ago, I was rear-ended on the highway, and I suffered an injury. Since that day, I have been diagnosed with whiplash, post-traumatic headache, and occipital neuralgia. Unfortunately, the time of when I will feel completely back to normal is unknown. Before the accident, I was a collegiate swimmer, training hours and hours a week, and now, even if I try, I will be left with neurological disfunction. I also used to attend loud university events with many people, and now, I have extreme sensitivity to the noise. Ever since that day, it has been a challenge to study effectively due to chronic headaches and dizziness. I must spend more time taking breaks because of headaches, and reading takes much longer than it did a couple of years ago. This is a daily reminder for me of the importance of driving safety. The girl that hit me was my age, and even with the motion-censored braking of her car, she hit me. Unfortunately, I believe this to be true because she was distracted by her cellphone. Since that day, I have been hyper-vigilant with how I use my phone in the car. One decision can change someone’s life, especially on the road. 

One technique I’ve used myself is shutting off my notifications while I’m driving. There’s a way to do it on your phone where you only receive calls and messages from certain people on specific apps of your choice. This way, you can be notified of an emergency in your family without putting people at risk on the road around you. In addition to this, I have set up a hands-free call system in my car so I can answer calls without being behind on my phone. This way I can keep my phone in a place that is out of my reach but not feel like I would miss out on something important. My music, it is also hands-free, and I have a specific playlist in which I can change the song on my steering wheel or on the radio. Phone management is something that should be a mandatory course to get your driver’s license. The truth is​​, that everyone these days will use their phone at some point on the road, so educators need to step up and help drivers find safer techniques that allow people to answer calls and texts without putting other drivers at risks. 

In addition to safe phone use, there are also many driving techniques to keep yourself safe, and sometimes, it doesn’t hurt to get a reminder or check-up on this. Something that is extremely helpful is to be a defensive driver. Unfortunately, you never know what other drivers will do around you, so it’s good to have a lot of distance between you and other cars, and if you feel unsafe in any reckless driving situation, just stay where you are and let the car pass. Distance is critical because when you have to make a split decision, you have a little bit more leeway if something unexpected happens. Just an extra second to react could save someone’s life. Besides what you can do in your driving, it is also vital to get a check-up on your car as soon as problems arise. If you delay this, it can put you, your passengers, and other drivers at risk because you never know when you could be affected the by malfunction. Checkups will also put you at a piece of mind that your vehicle is safe to drive in. 

Driver education is vital for all drivers today and in the future, with the increase in technology and population. There should be a high expectation set for drivers because if used unsafely, a car is a weapon and can affect people’s lives. This is something that needs to be educated to people because they should know the consequences of unsafe decisions on the road. Some future steps we can take is to mandate driver education courses that include phone use and have more consequences for people driving while misusing their cellphones. As someone who is still suffering from an accident on the highway almost two years ago, I know how valuable it can be for there to be a mandate of education on how to use a vehicle safely and that it will prepare new drivers with the responsibility of driving. Learning the steps to be behind the wheel safely is vital for the future in protecting people on the road and ensure safety is the upmost priority.