In the Driver’s Seat

According to the CDC, distracted driving is one of the top 5 leading causes of death. 

That is almost 20,000 car crashes a day. There are many ways drivers can be distracted while driving such as being on their phone, eating food, talking to people in the car, or even fiddling with the radio. However, young drivers know these things beforehand because of the Drivers Ed class that has to be taken in high school. The Drivers Ed class consists of learning the rules of the road, vehicle safety, and behind the wheel information. Each new driver under 18 in Virginia must take the course. 

 

I’ve been a passenger in a couple of car crashes with my family. In one of these accidents my family and I were on our way to my basketball tournament in Atlanta, Georgia. On our way to the tournament, in North Carolina, an Enterprise box truck caused a multiple vehicle accident on the interstate. Traffic was slowing and the SUV I was in came to a stop. I didn’t think anything of it, and everything seemed normal. A few seconds after we stopped, the Enterprise truck ran into a vehicle a few cars behind us and caused a domino effect reaction. The Enterprise truck had to have been going full speed. If the truck had hit us first, I couldn’t possibly imagine what would happen. Despite our SUV not being the first car that was hit, the damage was still very noticeable. The trunk of our SUV pushed back into the third row of seats, the back window shattered, my siblings in agony, and my mother reassuring everyone, making sure everybody is ok. Thinking back, I am grateful that I or any of my siblings chose to sit in the third row. The aftermath was worse than the actual accident. The SUV we were in was not suitable to drive. We had to remove all of our belongings right there on the middle median of the interstate. The fire truck crew offered to give us a ride somewhere off the interstate, so we hitched a ride to the closest restaurant, Bojangles. We were stuck in North Carolina, waiting for a cab at Bojangles which felt like forever. Hours later the cab finally came, and we were in for a rude awakening. The cab was filthy and smelled like he smoked a couple of cigarettes just before he arrived. He barely had enough room for all of us. Packed in this uncomfortable cab, the cab driver drove us to the nearest car rental place, which happened to be at Charlotte Airport. The car rental place was supposed to have a rental for us, but they did not. I thought we were going to have to sleep in the airport. We ended up getting a small rental car and eventually made it to our destination. I did not miss any basketball games and we won a couple. We went through all of this because of a person not paying attention to the road. Thankfully, the accident was not fatal, and nobody was seriously injured. Once you experience your first car accident, you will never forget how it felt. 

My very first accident took place soon after I received my license. I was 17 years old. Not only was I a new driver, but I was also very confident in myself and believed I knew exactly what I was doing. I felt distracted driving did not apply to me and that I could do all things better than anyone else. This confidence led me to be on my phone, play with the radio, and engage with others in the car. Basically, doing everything but keeping my eyes 100% on the road. This led me to get into my first accident. Although it was a small accident, I had to deal with multiple consequences. My family’s insurance went up, I had to drive with my father to school again, and my driving freedom was gone. It hurt having my privilege taken away so soon for something that so many people told me not to do.

This small accident showed me, as a young driver, that I do not know everything.  Anything could happen at any given time no matter how good a driver you are. You have to always be aware of your surroundings. Ultimately, I got a reality check, and I learned that I needed to change my mentality when it comes to driving. Now, I understand how important it is to be aware of my surroundings while driving. Doing things such as staying off my phone, scanning how close I am to a car, how close a car is to me, who is on my blind side, and many more cautionary things. 

Some ideas I have are communities organizing events with people sharing real life stories of them getting into car accidents. Accidents happen every day, and there are thousands of people in the world who can relate to each accident. These people come together to speak out to young drivers about the dangers of distracted driving and how distracted driving caused them to get into an accident and may change young drivers’ behavior. Another idea is for schools to partner with local law enforcement to campaign the dangers of distracted driving. Local law enforcement witness car accidents every day and 14% of the accidents that occur are young drivers. Local law enforcement pushing the importance of how distracted driving is dangerous can also prevent their behavior while driving.

Lastly, I believe there should be an app created to reward young drivers for their safe driving behaviors and educate them on the dangers of distracted driving. For starters, I know that Geico has an app similar to this idea, but I believe schools should encourage young drivers to get the app to push them to drive distracted free.