Distracted Driving

In a blink of an eye the world could go black. All people think they are indestructible until they aren’t. When it comes to driving the possibility of not coming home can be even greater still. Approximately 1.35 million people die from car accidents each year. There are approximately 1.6 million car accidents involving phones each year, even if they aren’t deadly. Phones are the biggest distraction when driving in this day in age. As a senior in highschool I haven’t been driving for a long time but I know plenty of people my age who have been in car accidents. What was the cause of the accident? Phones. I’ve watched people get rear ended in the school parking lot because a fellow student is trying to pull up their playlist. You cannot try to pull up a music playlist and drive safely. When driving your full attention has to be on the road. Out of all the fender benders I’ve heard about there has only been one death. A friend of mine passed away in a car accident due to distracted driving. He was going fast and wasn’t fully paying attention to the road. He was pronounced dead at the scene. This could have been any one of the students that pull into the parking lot everyday. After that accident you’d think kids my age would be more careful with driving, but no. My school is only a small portion of the world. Regarding car accidents, I think about people’s friends, children, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers who have died because of a distraction while driving. Personally, I have been lucky to not lose a family member in this way but I do know others who have. A girl, who at the time was my same age, died in a car accident on the way to a volleyball tournament. My teammates were friends with her. That next season I helped one of my teamates with depression and thoughts of suicide because this loss pushed her over the edge. We were only fifteen. With all the losses there are still survivors. My grandpa’s girlfriend is one of those survival stories. She was in a car accident where she lost her husband. She came out alive but barely. She had a broken neck, fractured spine, broken leg and arm, plus plenty of bruising. Everyday I thank God for keeping her around because of how happy she keeps my grandpa. If she hadn’t survived my grandpa would not be doing as well as he is now following the death of my grandmother. I know for a fact I am not the only one with all these stories; many others have it much worse. 

With all these tragic accidents what can you do to stop it? In reality, there’s no way to 100% stop car accidents. But you can help raise awareness to help prevent these accidents. In high schools, especially when it comes to new drivers, they need to be taught to understand how important it is to drive safely. That’s why safe driving classes should be mandatory all through high school. Starting even before these teenagers operate a car. There will be a large number of people who think this is a waste of time. But when push comes to shove having a class like this could save your life. This safe driving class should be incorporated in everyday education just like math and English. When in class, a lot of people don’t pay attention but when things are drilled into you for four years through high school you tend to remember the most important parts. I know multiplication tables 1-12 and can recite it by heart. Why? Because that’s been drilled into my brain for all 12 years of school. If you do the same things with a safe driving course, students would be more prepared for driving. Most kids in this generation study just enough to pass a test, but they haven’t fully grasped the concept they are supposed to be studying. When it comes to doing this on the driving test that is going to end very poorly. Students may know that green means go and red means stop but do they know who has the right of way at a four way stop? Having a safe driving test would drill these important facts into students’ brains so when they are in the situation they would know what to do. That would prepare students to drive on the streets but wouldn’t prevent all wrecks. Nothing will, but there are steps to take to at least lower the number of accidents. On all phones there is a “do not disturb” feature. On Apple phones there is also a safe driving feature. This prevents you from doing anything on your phone while you are driving. This feature would be very beneficial if everyone either knew about it or used it. I believe this feature should be broadcasted so people are aware of it. On top of that, I believe using that feature while driving should become a law. People will still break the law but the majority of people won’t. If this became a law the number of car accidents caused by distracted driving would drop substantially. This idea could become the new norm. When seat belts started being manufactured in cars many people did not like them. But over time people realized they were a good idea. They keep people from flying through windshields and windows in car accidents. Seat belts became a law, not to stop car accidents but to help prevent the mortality rates in these accidents. When you get in a car parents say, “Buckle up!” The same idea with the “do not disturb” feature. At first people may not like the idea simply because it’s different. But over time people will realize it’s meant to keep more people safe. After a couple years it’ll just be one of those things parents say when you are getting ready to leave. “Don’t forget your lunch, buckle up, turn on do not disturb!”