Goals for Driver Education

As a recent student of the Grand Prix Driving School, I can tell you that we spent a significant amount of time discussing safety, awareness, and accident avoidance. As we all know, technology is a leading cause of distraction and texting and using social media creates a significantly more dangerous environment. It may feel like it’s only a few seconds, but speed and road factors could lead to a disaster in a split second. The faster the speed, the more damage that can be done. Using those precious few seconds to hit the brakes instead of watching the phone can be the difference between surviving and death.

At school, we were given a lot of options for reducing this dangerous habit. My phone has a Do Not Disturb feature, which has been enabled. When a text is sent to my phone while I am driving, the sender gets a message that says “I am Driving with Do Not Disturb turned on. I’ll see your message when I get where I’m going”. This rather simple feature could easily be made mandatory and it would take effect automatically when the car is driven. There are a lot of other Apps that allow the phone to be less of a danger and most are free, easy to use, and are available for the entire family. Having the entire family with the same pact is helpful when trying to establish new habits. If all else fails, tape a sticky note to the steering wheel saying IT CAN WAIT!

Habits are the key to anything and another easy one is to keep the phone out of reach. Putting the phone in a backpack and in the back seat makes it impossible to reach while the car is in motion. The phone could be turned off when the car is started, but as some drivers use it for GPS, perhaps this is less appealing. Keeping the benefits in mind make the habits easier to follow and the benefits obviously outweigh the risks. Having a lot of tools to keep drivers safe will lead to a reduction in deaths from accidents that can be avoided.

I am a new driver and I have been lucky enough to grow up with parents who take their driving habits seriously. My father is a firefighter and has responded to many serious accidents that were caused by distractions, carelessness, or bad road conditions. He has impressed upon me the importance of staying vigilant. I was involved in an accident with my mother, but because she was aware and driving slowly, she was able to see the other car run its stop sign and her quick actions led to a minor accident instead of a more serious incident. Our car did not fare well, but the safety features that are built into it allowed us to walk away while our car was put on a wrecker and hauled away.

Education is always key and the more times a driver hears about this topic, the more likely it will become a second nature when the driver gets into the car. Starting this topic well in advance is also a good idea and it could become part of the early education curriculum for elementary school-aged children. As these students are already learning about dangerous habits to avoid, like smoking, vaping, cell phone safety, it would become part of their prevention series. If cell phone safety in cars were included with the fire safety lessons that start in the youngest of grades, these students would already have a strong habit in place from a young age. When they become drivers, putting the cell phone away or disabling it while driving would become second nature, like clicking on the seatbelt. Advertising has been shown to be strongly effective and major cell phone retailers and manufacturers should be asked to sponsor advertising blitzes that are stark, realistic, and terrifying for the new driver.

Parents also play a key role here too. The old adage, “Do as I say, not as I do” is applicable and it’s time for parents to face consequences for texting and driving as well or for any unsafe driver behavior. Linking the phone to the car’s Bluetooth system, when available, will keep hands on the wheel. Fines, penalties, higher insurance rates, and loss of license should all be part of the prevention tools that are used to save lives.