Distracted Driving Spares No One

Distracted driving spares no lives. Distracted driving does not care who you are, the value of your life, or your importance in this world. It only waits for a simple slip like checking a phone before moving its way in frivilously and dangerously. I truly think that at the chance that people could see the impacts of these decisions, they might change their mind. They might just maybe put down the phone. But unfortunately reality cannot always be safe. Reality is sometimes, fatal.

I would like to think that drivers education could help young drivers with knowing the importance of driving safely, but we see this still take affect all to often. For some, it might truly take seeing, witnessing, or being apart of a barely survivable crash to understand that feeling. The thought of not knowing if anyone around you has survived. The cries of those who love you surrounded by whirring ambulance sirens. Is that not enough? Then what will be? Will it be enough when its you? Or when its your family? When will our society wake up and see that innocent lives are being brutally murdered at the cost of a selfie? 

You could think “Well I’m a good driver, and Im very in control of my vehicle” You could not be farther from the truth. It takes less than a millisecond. You truly would not even know it happened. That is how quick things can change. That is how quick a life can be lost. I think that because people are so genuinely confident in their ability to control their vehicle, they tend to be careless when it comes to driving safely. But even the “safest” and “best” drivers can crash. You are not undefeatable. You are just the type of person who is more susceptible to un-safe driving practices. And that mentality will, and can, kill you.

I was driving down the road one day. When all of a sudden I see multiple cars infront of me at a stop. I saw billowing smoke above me, and felt my gut and heart tense up. I felt a very very bad feeling, unshakeable even. As state patrol cars sped past me I felt extremely uneasy. I stopped. Police, ambulance, all of it. A young man coming up to my vehicle crying hysterically exclaiming that he tried to save a young mother and her toddler daughter. I could feel the trauma radiating from his eyes. The look of fear. And I will never be able to shake that look from my mind. Likewise, he will never be able to shake that vision. I ultimately found another route home due to the fact that the main road to my home was blocked. I later found out she was a mother of 4. She was a wife. She was a person. Brutally and recklessly murdered at the hands of another. All because they could not take the two seconds to stop at the stop sign, but rather, ran completely through it.

I understand that life can get busy, and that sometimes your priorities are shaken. But sparing those few minutes, could save your life. Do not be a part of the growing statistic. Do not be the reason someone loses their life. Put down your phone. Stop at the stop sign. Do not change that song. Look up. Eyes straight. Hands on the wheel.

What if it wasn’t your fault? What if the other person involved was distracted? Well, they unfortunately have hopefully learned their lesson. In the utmost horrid way. Raising awareness for distracted driving and the tragic outcome it causes is so extremely important. Without efforts like these, distracted driving will increase, increasing injury, fatality, and crime. In order to push a world to end the battle between distracted driving and its consequences we must advocate for the abolishment of it. Simply explaining to someone the dangers could help save their life. Or even others. It is our responsibility as people to hold what matters to us on a pedestal. And distracted driving and it’s consequences should matter.

While we will never regain the lives lost due to the dangers and tragedy of distracted driving, we can try our best to prevent it. Taking driving classes can advocate for the inherent risks of distracted driving while also preparing you for such risks taken by others in the real world. Knowing about distracted driving makes you less susceptible to its statistic. Because distracted driving is not a major topic in today’s society, it has been forgotten and pushed to the bottom totem pole. But we must keep fighting. We will save lives. We will prevent accidents. Because we know distracted driving spares no one.