How to reduce unsafe driving habits, especially with technology.

Mackenzie Cortes

How to reduce unsafe driving habits?

As teenagers, most of our lives revolve around social media and texting, even when driving. In the United States, 25% of all car accidents result from a person being on their phone. People, especially teens, cannot seem to get off their phones and the question is, why? We live our entire lives through connections to others and do not want to take a break. We like to take a snap of a song we’re listening to, send a picture of a cute dog we see on the side of the road, or use time spent driving catching up with an old friend. But those are all very unsafe driving habits. Just a few ways that we can reduce these dangerous habits is we can put our phones away from our sight, pull over and park to safely text or talk, and as a passenger you can remind your driver that it is unsafe to use the cell phone while driving.

“Out of sight, out of mind” is a very popular saying and it plays a very important role when it comes to driving safely. If you cannot see or hear your phone you will be less likely to even think about touching it. When we see or hear our notifications our first instinct is to pick it up and see what or who it is. A safe driving habit that all people should form is putting their phone on silent and putting it away. If you put it in the glove box you will not be able to see or hear it and this is the best place for it. And remember the saying “out of sight, out of mind”, It can take you a long way and even save some lives.

Pulling over and parking to make a text or phone call is another great habit to form instead of doing so while driving. The problem with this option though is, everyone is always in a rush to get everywhere but driving is the last place you should be rushing. If a person can not slow down and take a break they will not be able to pull over and make it to their location on time. This means when a person has no time they will not make the safe choice to park so they can take phone calls or send a text. You can practice this safe driving technique by giving yourself enough time to get to where you are going so if you receive an important call or text you can pull over safely and still be on time to your event or location.

As a passenger in a car, you have the most important job when it comes to driving/ being in a car. You control the music, make sure everyone has all the snacks, but especially you are there to remind the driver that there are others’ lives at stake. Meaning it is your job to help whoever is in the driver’s seat by reminding them that they should not text, control music, or Snapchat something funny going on in the backseat. The passenger has the voice to tell the driver that they are practicing an unsafe driving habit by being on their phone. Not only does the passenger have a voice, but they can also help the driver with whatever they need, for example, sending a text, making a phone call, changing the music, or even taking a picture of the cute dog on the side of the road.

There are so many lives at risk every day and cutting down on dangerous driving habits will save more of those lives than most people think. Some statistics tell us that in 2018 alone approximately 385 people died in car crashes connected to using phones while driving. About 1.6 million crashes occur every year due to phones while driving. So remember you can prevent this risk by putting your phone away, if necessary pulling over and using your phone, and most importantly do not forget that all people have the ability to speak up when you see someone doing something that shouldn’t be doing while driving. Practicing these safe driving habits could and will save lives.