Distracted Driving: Not Just a Problem for Teenagers

As we drove down the New Jersey highway, blinking lights flashed from the sign on the side of the road. ‘DON’T TEXT AND DRIVE,’ read the sign in geometric letters. As we passed it, I kept my eyes on the sign, one of many I’d seen on the sides of highways, billboards, or local postings. But, only minutes later, the alluring sound of the text tone reverberated through the car. I could see my mom, the driver, hesitate before grabbing the phone, one hand on the wheel, balancing it in her lap as she typed.

“Let me type it for you,” I said. The words didn’t seem to register; her finger continually tapping on the screen as she alternated her gaze up and down between the road and the phone. “Please, let me get it for you,” I said, more forcefully this time. But she was too wrapped up in the message to respond, and before I knew it, the text was sent, the phone flung back into the bag, her two hands back on the wheel again.

We were lucky. We were lucky our car didn’t strike another vehicle, that those moments hadn’t caused a tragic accident. We were not only lucky that time; we were lucky all the other times she decided to risk her attention to check a text. Looking back on these moments, I never remember what those texts were about, and I doubt she does. But I do remember the piercing fear that would rush through me when her gaze was no longer situated completely on the road, my temptation urging to just tear the phone away from her hands. I know that this occasional habit of my mom’s does not make her a horrible person, but it does make me terrified that, one day, we will not be so lucky. Having had several serious discussions with her about this habit, urging her to stop, I have noticed she does try harder now not to give in to that enticing sound of a text notification..

My generation grew up as cell phones became the norm. When once, cell phones had been something to use solely for the purpose of calling someone, they are now tools for entertainment and distraction. As these devices became largely popularized, it was evident how they could become fatally distracting while driving. As soon as I began to take Drivers’ Ed courses in school, I began to learn about the impacts of distracted driving. We learned how distracted driving can multiply one’s chance of getting into a car crash. We were taught about the risks that cellular devices can pose to young drivers, how dialing on a phone can raise a novice driver’s risk of crashing by eight times, how texting raises the risk by almost four times. Once I began driving, I didn’t dare to touch my phone or any possible distraction while on the road. When I rode in cars with my other teenagers, I noticed that, the vast majority of the time, they did not do so either. Yet, the statistics of distracted driving remain. It has made me discover that, sometimes, it is the one time that we decide to look away from the road, the one time during which we will believe we will be fine, that tragedy strikes. I once had the assumption that distracted driving incidents struck those who constantly used their phones while driving, who just couldn’t be torn away. But, I soon realized that distracted driving can hit anyone, anyone who believes that, just once, they can check their phone, just for a moment.

Most people tend to associate the risks of distracted driving with young drivers – as their minds are not fully developed, their judgement not completely stabilized – yet distracted driving is also a serious concern for adult drivers. According to a 2018 study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers aged 15-19 involved in fatal crashes made up 9% of distracted drivers in the study. Yet drivers aged 20-29 involved in fatal crashes made up 25% of the distracted drivers studied, 19% were made up of drivers aged 30-39, 14% were made up of drivers aged 40-49, and 13% of drivers aged 50-59. Of course, these numbers are impacted by the fact that the largest proportion of drivers is made up of people aged 20-29. However, the statistic remains that, although there may be a greater risk of distracted driving to young drivers, older generations of drivers are not immune.

When I think back on my mother’s habit, I would often wonder why the temptation of the cell phone would be so much that it caused her to turn away from the road. I realized that she probably believed nothing would happen; she believed she could multitask. I wondered if my mother had received the same education in distracted driving that I had going through middle and high school. Thinking about this, I realized she probably hadn’t. Because cell phones had not been invented and popularized when she was growing up, the distraction of these devices would not have been involved in Drivers’ Education curriculums. Maybe she would have been advised to focus on nothing else but the road when she learned, but she likely had not been required to watch the same warning videos as I had, read the same articles about kids who took the risk to tear their focus away from driving. She had never seen videos detailing the haunting stories of Liz Marks, a vibrant, smart teenager whose life was forever changed while texting and driving. She probably never saw the video about Sydnee Williams, a compassionate and fun-loving girl who lost her life texting while driving. I am not sure if she knows about the Freehold woman, a chief executive of a nonprofit organization, who texted about dinner while driving and killed a pedestrian, receiving up to ten years in prison. And this story is not far away, unrealistic – this woman was driving in the very same state in which my family lives: New Jersey. This is why I believe it is important that drivers be required to complete a short course or webinar every five years about distracted driving. Especially because distracted driving statistics are constantly changing in our modern context, I believe this could help keep drivers informed and updated about risks.

What strikes me when reading about cases of distracted driving is how such a small thing like a text can change our lives forever, even steal them from us. I feel that it is sometimes simple to read and watch these stories and separate ourselves from the situation – think this would never happen to us or someone we know, that we would never do that. The truth is that those who drive distractedly aren’t monsters. They are usually people in our communities, our homes, our schools, people we trust. Usually, it is the temptation of something trivial that takes over, the belief that we are invincible. Watching the story of Liz Marks, I was taken by how she described how enticing her phone was. She texted and drove because she was nervous of missing out on something. Her whole social life existed on her phone. Especially for teenagers, this fear of missing out, particularly on devices, can be real and frightening. However, the allure can also impact adults as well, and I feel that adults sometimes believe perhaps they are even more invincible than teenagers – they are older after all – so they give in to multitasking while driving. One standout lesson I have learned about distracted driving is that the human impact is greater than one could ever imagine. Not only is the person who may be involved in a distracted driving crash affected, their family is. Their friends are impacted. Health care workers at the hospital are affected. The impacts of distracted driving are a ripple effect, growing larger and larger from one droplet. That droplet is the trivial thing for which we take our focus off the road. So, the next time I’m with my mom when she is driving down that New Jersey highway, I won’t hesitate to make sure she lets me send the text instead of her. I won’t text my family or friends when I know they are driving. And, I, myself, aim to take responsibility for my actions and vow never to let my focus turn away from the road.