How to Reduce Distracted Driving

How to Reduce Distracted Driving

I’m 17 years old, and I know driving can be scary. I have never been in a car accident behind the wheel, but my other family members have. My brother has been prone to driving recklessly, but he has improved a lot since his first accident. If the correct steps are taken, everyone can be safe drivers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported distracted driving was involved in 2,841 vehicle crash fatalities in 2018 (2019). People can be inexperienced behind the wheel or they are prone to distracted driving. It is a big responsibility and you have to be prepared. And while there are many distractions whether it be internal or external, the cellphone is the most dangerous. We need to reduce using a cellphone as well. To do this people need to understand that they can’t multitask, break the habit of having their cellphones at all times, and know the consequences of using a cellphone on the road.

We can not multitask. We think we can but it’s not true. Studies show our brain just switches tasks, and when driving, our attention switches from our phone to the road constantly (Burkus, 2018). If you take five seconds to look at your phone you can travel a very long distance and what happens in that time is unpredictable. Drivers need all of our focus on what’s happening in front of us. Once we realize that we can’t multitask, it’s a step towards reducing distracted driving.

Nowadays our cellphone is a part of us. We take it everywhere we go and I doubt many of us can go a day without it. While we drive, they can’t get in the way. Both teenagers and adults need to break this habit we have. Start small and begin distancing yourself from your phone in the car until you don’t need to have your phone on you. Put your phone out of reach and focus on the road until you become more experienced and confident. Eventually, when you can control the urge to use your phone, you can just turn it on ‘silent. We take away distracted driving at the root, which is our need to be on our phones at all times.

On the road, We feel more independent. We feel they can do anything. We sometimes forget the reality of using your phone while driving. Still, the phone can wait because there are many consequences that come with it. These consequences come in the form of monetary fees ranging from $20 to $500, a misdemeanor, and possibly jail time (Mikaloff, 2019). Usually, we don’t care about these until it’s too late. But when we understand that these can all be prevented by just putting our phone to the side, we can comply. Using our phone when driving doesn’t have to be a worry if we can understand this knowledge and apply it.

Driving can be fun. You don’t need to rely on others anymore and you really do become more independent. We should feel the need to reduce distracted driving. But to do this, Drivers need to take action themselves. They need to take this advice and put it into practice. If it doesn’t work, there are many other options and helpful tips for them worldwide. Even if we don’t feel these tips won’t work, we ought to try.

References

D, Burkus. (2018, Nov 15). Why you can’t multi-task and when you can. Psychology Today.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/creative-leadership/201811/why-you-can-t-multi-task

Distracted driving. (n.d). NHTSA. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from

https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving

J.Mikaloff. (2019, Jan 28). Consequences for texting and driving. LegalMatch.

https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/consequences-for-texting-and-driving.html