Importance of Drivers Ed

73.6 percent of fatal crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers were in the age ranges of 16-24 according to the National Highway traffic Safety Administration in a 2021 study. Car crashes are a very well covered topic in schools and day to day conversations of new drivers, yet crashes at this age especially continue to persist. There are many causes of fatal car accidents such as the very common texting and driving, being on a phone call, or changing your music. However, there are many other factors that could contribute to a crash that are often looked over. Some of these include talking to your friends or listening to music. Also, being tired or emotional can greatly impact your ability to drive effectively. One other common task that leads to fatal car accidents is trying to eat while driving.

The more common reasons for car accidents are found to be texting or being on your phone in general while driving and trying to change or play music. Being on your phone while driving directs your attention to the mobile device or music system rather than the road and the things going on around them. The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee stated in the article “Distracted Driving” that driving while looking at your phone, going 55 miles per hour, takes approximately 5 seconds for the average person which is equivalent to driving blindfolded while driving the entire distance of a football field. This time is more than enough for an accident to occur due to the drivers lack of attention to the road and their delayed reaction time if a problem were to occur. Trying to change the music or find a song to play on your phone could also take this amount of time, leading to the same consequences.

Although the distractions that are most common are mentioned above, there are many other less popular distractions that still lead to many fatal car accidents each year. Just some of these less common distractions include talking loudly with friends or playing music at a loud volume, not allowing you to hear other cars or pay attention to the things going on around you. Being tired or emotional can alter an individual’s ability to drive, and trying to eat while driving also poses a very high risk for an accident to occur. Trying to hold a conversation with friends either beside you or in the back seat, diverts the driver’s attention from the road onto the conversation at hand. This raises the chances of a crash to occur due to the lack of attention on the road and the delayed reaction time if the driver is not looking at their surroundings. Being tired and emotional may be one of the most dangerous situations for a driver to put themselves into. In a study conducted by Nathan Paulus in April of 2025, it was found that approximately 1 in 5 people admitted to driving while fatigued in the last month with the majority of these individuals doing so for work, social activities, or family events. Through my traffic safety course, completed just a month ago through my EMT course, I was taught that driving while fatigued appears to law enforcement in a very similar way that driving drunk does. Also, driving while emotional, whether this is angry or upset, can pose a very big threat on the road. Tired and emotional drivers are often not fully aware of their surroundings or the drivers around them. Some individuals have even admitted to dozing off while driving, hence the rumble strips on the side of roads. These situations seem to be less talked about in drivers ed or other young driving classes but they tend to have just as much significance as the others previously mentioned. Lastly, trying to eat while driving can lead to many significant car accidents. “The NHTSA reports that 65% of near-miss accidents are due to drivers eating or drinking behind the wheel”(Johnson). Eating while driving is something that seems to be normalized. On road trips or long car rides in general I know of many people that use that time to grab fast food and eat while they continue their travel. Not only could this make a mess that would then need to be cleaned up in order to drive carefully again, the distraction that the food creates in the first place can lead to many serious accidents. All of these reasons are not spoken about as much as texting and driving are but they pose just as much of a threat when considering fatal car accidents.

In order to prevent distracted driving there are steps that individuals can take in hopes of lessening the chances of a car accident. These steps could include preparing before you drive, putting your phone on do not disturb, pulling over if needed, waiting if emotions are too high, skipping messy foods or drinks, and using voice controls or passengers to complete needed tasks. These things may seem like additional work or unneeded steps for a short drive or in areas that seem familiar. However, every drive that a person takes is a risk and should be properly planned and thought about. Preparing your music and GPS before leaving your location will allow you to focus on the drive once you are on the road rather than trying to change these settings as you are driving. Pulling over or just delaying your drive if an issue arises or your emotions are too much to handle will allow you to fix the issue before driving and putting yourself and others at risk. Choosing not to partake in messy foods and drinks will allow you to keep your hands and attention on driving at all times. Lastly, using voice control or asking your passengers to complete tasks for you like changing the radio or texting someone back allows you to continue focusing on driving while being able to complete those important tasks.

Overall, people are aware when they are being distracted and causing risk to themselves and others on the road. Texting, listening to loud music, eating, and being emotional while driving are all choices that the driver is making as they are doing so on their drive. They may feel they are competent to handle this situation and a good enough driver to not hurt themselves. However, they are also putting others at risk and may encounter a problem they are not truly able to handle. For these reasons precautions should be in place in each person’s daily life to avoid any car accidents from occuring and keeping themselves and others safe on the road.