It Only Takes a Second: The Dangers of Distracted Driving

May 3, 2019, 3:30 PM Mountain time. The day was incredibly hot, the summer was peeking around the corner as I drove home from a day-long pep band commitment in my old stick-shift Honda Element I named Pandora, for she was a box. Entering I-25, I briefly look down to adjust my Air controls. When I look back up, there is a White SUV in front of me with brake-lights on. I slam on my brakes, but to no avail. I slam into the back end, rendering my car undrivable, but luckily, no one was injured to my knowledge. This somewhat traumatizing experience taught me a valuable lesson that no amount of lecture can prepare you for: the dangers of distracted driving. Distractions are everywhere, I know that especially with my ADHD. Looking down for only 2 seconds or so caused me to crash and total my precious Pandora. Had I been paying attention, I would have easily been able to stop before hitting the car in front of me.

I know I am not the only one to have had an accident like this, and I also believe I was one of the lucky ones. No one in the accident was severely injured, something I consider to be a blessing from God. Many others, though, have severely injured, paralyzed, or even killed others or themselves by driving with distractions. There are many things we can do to prevent accidents like these.

Some say that you must get rid of distractions in order to drive more safely. But the truth of the matter is that there are some distractions you can’t get rid of: there are other drivers, pedestrians, animals, even your own thoughts can distract even the safest drivers. However, a person can either choose to let it be a distraction, or they can use those distractions to heighten their focus. And other distractions including smartphones, food, the radio, and, of course, A/C controls are not relevant during driving and should be the focus of a passenger, or when the car is parked.

A second is an incredibly short time that can seal the fate of your mistakes. Any given second can be either a good second or a bad second. It is up to every single driver to make every second a good second while they are driving. They will save lives and money in the process.