Intentionality on the Road

Ignorance in one of the most dangerous things to the human society. The less a person knows, the more likely they are to make a mistake. Misinformation and loss of knowledge retention are huge factors in our culture unfortunately. There has become to many ways to take the easy way out of education so one doesn’t have to work to learn. This results in minimal knowledge and misunderstanding information because one didn’t take the time to understand.

The importance of driver education in keeping our roads and people safe is monumental. Operating a large machine like a car is extremely dangerous and more complicated than people think and therefore misuse or take advantage of the fact this it is such a convenient tool that we use almost every single day. But we often forget the adverse effects a single vehicular mistake can cause. Death in car accidents are a much more common thing than we even think about. A single mistake caused by one person on the road can result in many deaths and hurting the lives of countless others even outside of the accident. The more knowledgeable one is in the vehicle, the more likely they are to be able to see and correct mistakes before disaster happens and be able to avoid the dangers of driving.

A more rigorous driving test and education would be the obvious solution to reduce the number of driving related deaths. But drivers make choices every single day that could have nothing to do with how well they were trained and tested on their driving skills and knowledge. In our culture, we are often so distracted. There’s so many more ways to connect and new technologies that we get so invested into that they become more central in our brain and every day thought and stream of conscience that other things like common safety steps and precautions are often pushed to the back of our minds. The cellphone is the largest distraction during driving and is more often than not, the main center of the focus during driving. If we could all make the choice to place our phones down or turn them off during driving, the roads would be so much safer and our focus and attention would be on driving and all the things we were taught. This is not as easy as it sounds, however. Hands free connection in modern cars is one of the best ways to come to a compromise. You can make calls and listen to text from your phone without ever having to look down at it while driving, giving more of the connection we want while still keeping our focus on the road.

Car accidents happen all around us, so much so that we are so used to it we hardly bat an eye. When I was a kid, my sister got into a car accident where she was T- Boned at an intersection. I didn’t understand the severity of the situation until we arrived at the scene. The side and front half of the car was completely smashed in. Her drink was splattered all over the ceiling and dash board and the inside smelled so strongly of exhaust. The car was totaled and my sister and the other driver were okay with minor scratches and aches. But it could have been a lot worse. The other driver was driving a pickup truck and wasn’t paying attention when he hit my sister’s car. Looking at the damage to the car was terrifying seeing how badly it was ruined and thinking of the damage it could have done to my twenty two year old sister. Car accidents are so much more dangerous than we realize until it happens to us or someone we know.

There are many steps one could take to practice safe driving. The one that I try to do every time I get into the car is intentionality. As soon as I sit behind the wheel, I focus on if I’m comfortable and if the mirrors are adjusted correctly and I adjust everything accordingly. I then turn my intentionality to be attentive to my surroundings outside of the car and where the car is in relation to them. Awareness is the biggest key. And although I often fall to the attention of looking at my cellphone to look at a text or look for a song on my playlist, I am still always looking up and being mindful of my surrounding at all times, consciously aware of everything happening around me. This is such an important thing that so many people forget or push aside that I think improves road safety by an infinite amount.