Just Drive

In New Jersey there is a campaign called “Just Drive”. The focus of the campaign is to teach drivers to just drive when they get in the car. They do not need to text, post on social media, constantly change the radio station, check their notifications from their apps, they need to just drive. A quick check on the number of deaths in New Jersey due to driving is shocking. During 2024, 662 people died due to traffic accidents, which is an increase from 2023, 606 deaths. It seems the trend is increasing in New Jersey while slightly decreasing nationwide. As a driver it is our responsibility to know the laws in the state you are driving in and abide by them. In New Jersey there was an increase in penalties if you are charged repeatedly for the same offense. For example, the first time you are charged with talking or texting on a handheld device is $200 minimum, second offense is increased to $400 minimum, and third offense is increased to $600 minimum and 90 days incarceration, plus 3 motor vehicle points. That text is definitely not worth 90 days in jail.

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commissions provides some safety tips which decreases the chances you will be tempted to text and drive and remain safe behind the wheel. First and foremost, turn your ringer off, this will reduce the temptation to look at your phone upon receiving notifications or telephone calls. Secondly, put your phone in a safe place where you can reach it in an emergency. And lastly, never ever dial while driving. Pull over to a safe location to make the phone call if it cannot wait till you have reached your destination.

The campaign shares true stories of fatal accidents or near death accidents caused by distracted driving. I attended Driver’s Education within the last year and I believe this campaign should be a focus during the classes and could have an impact on the reduction of driving related deaths. High School students are attached to their phones and are constantly on social media. Many trends are started because of a video that was seen on You Tube, Instagram, or Tik Tok. Can you imagine the impact of true stories of distracted driving and the grief it has caused families if it is repeatedly shown to high schoolers? Teenagers believe nothing will happen to them, by seeing true stories involving people their age they might begin to believe they are not invincible. Through social media there are monthly posts regarding police activity in your town. How about continuous mandatory seminars sharing information regarding distracted driving in the area, without anyone named. Any time I am a passenger with my parents and we witness unsafe driving we have this discussion. All it takes is a few seconds for your eyes to leave the road and your response time is decreased. We can control all the safety measures that we put in place but you cannot control the other driver, but you need to be prepared for their every unsafe move.

I am extremely thankful that I have never been involved in an accident either as a driver or passenger. Although, there are numerous people, including a family member, that I would not get in the car with. I will not get in the car with friends that have been known to drive at very high speeds, peers that I know could have been drinking, or a cousin that has already been involved in three accidents.

Our society has been accustomed to having immediate access to everyone at any time. We have allowed that, we don’t want to leave someone undelivered or unopened. We are afraid of what they may think. I believe that is the first topic we need to tackle. We need to make it more acceptable to leave messages unopened until we are home or actually available. You do not have to be available to everyone all day long. There are so many actions that can lead to distracted driving that impacts the newest driver to someone who has been driving for 50 years. Due to more cars on the road, more cars going higher levels of speed and constantly in a rush to get where they need to be, the impact of the slightest distracted driving can have a lifelong impact on your life. Personally, I make sure I leave for work, school, or practice early enough to avoid rushing. Before I pull out of my driveway or parking spot I have already plugged my phone in and set the radio where I want it. This lessens the chances of my eyes coming off the road even for a fraction of a second. To have an impact on my peers, I set a good example and will speak up during conversations describing reckless driving. If something happened to a peer and I did not speak up, I would not be able to forgive myself. Every driver plays a role in keeping the roads safe, all of us need to take it seriously.