distracted driving

Distracted driving affected my life badly when I was a little kid. In elementary school I remember my mom not being able to drive because she got in a car accident. I remember staying over at my aunts house and when my mom came she had a neck brace on. She was okay because to this day she isn’t paralyzed or still has neck injuries but the thing that scarred me and made me feel terrible was the feeling of sadness and worry that I had for her. The best way to describe it is when you’re home alone as a little kid and your mom is taking too long to come home and you don’t know what happened or if something happened and you’re worried for her safety because this is someone whom you care for tremendously. The only thing is the fear of something happening to your parents actually came true and as someone who’s about the age of 8 seeing a white collar around your own mom sucks. I guess she knew that me and my other siblings were worried because she tried to calm us down by saying she was okay, as any caring parent would who doesn’t want their children to feel bad.

This has still affected me to this day and every time I get into someone’s car who isnt my mom I worry because I don’t feel safe around, or at least not safe in the same regard as I would if I was with my parents or guardian.

Some ideas I have to raise awareness of distracted driving would be to have driving lessons in highschool and middle school as a class that people could go to after school before and at these lessons they could drill it into people to not be a reckless/distracted driver. In this way people would learn or be aware of distracted driving. I also think that it should be taught in every driving school. And when people get their driving license they should be quizzed that they know the dangers of distracted driving and should be assessed whether or not they themselves are someone likely to be a distracted driver.

To prevent distracted driving from happening I think people with mental disorders, the elderly(over 75), those with repeated drug use and people who are often in car accidents should have their licenses suspended. And once they do they should be assessed as to whether or not they are capable of driving and should once again be tested as to whether they are distracted drivers. And if they fail the tests they should not be allowed to be behind the wheel of a vehicle. And for them to regain their license they would need to go back to driving school and be taught how not to be a distracted driver and how to drive safely. But if their suffering from any severe disabilities like not being mentally or physically fit to take care of themselves like being blind, not having full motor controls, and having mental disorders that could put someone else in danger, like severe aggression or severe depression they should not be behind the wheel of a car because they can actually hurt not only themselves but the people around them. So to prevent this among young adults, driving school is definitely important and an assessment as to whether or not they are fit to be behind the wheel of a vehicle. And if they are not they should not be issued a license and if they already have one it should be revoked. And the issue that is restricting them to drive safely should be fixed and treated. The reason i talk about mental disorders being addressed so much and how it correlates to this essay is because by the restaurant which I used to work at their was a lady who was speeding and she got in a car crash and it turned and dragged across the street hitting other cars and blowing some of them up and a lot of people died (6). When the authorities looked into the cause of what caused the accident it was found out that she was suffering from mental issues and she had a seizure behind the wheel.

People need to get checked to see if they’re okay before they drive because their not only putting themselves at risk every time they step behind a wheel but they’re also putting others around them at risk as seen in this article. Some things people should be taught at the schools is to not use your phone while driving, or at least limit the amount of time you’re using it. Another thing people should be taught is to keep your eyes on the road. Another thing people should be taught is to anticipate not only what is about to happen in front of you but also what’s happening 2,3, and 4 cars ahead of you because those cars can still affect you. Another thing people should be drilled on is to not be under the influence of any drugs while behind a wheel. Another thing people should be taught is to not be tired while driving as that could lead to you crashing. Another thing people could be taught is to not space out while driving what i mean is thinking of other stuff while your driving like what your gonna do once you’ve gotten to where you want to go or something you could be mad about from earlier in the day, or something that made them really happy earlier in the day. I think people should do a 5 minute mindful meditation before they get behind a wheel to help them mentally and get them in the present. Doing so I believe would lower the chances of someone getting in a car crash. In an article, it states ”Dr. Kristie Young said the study is significant in that mindfulness reduces the tendency to engage in distracting behavior and reduces stress while caught in traffic or driving at high speeds on country roads.”