Name: Aarun Devgan
From: Westlake Village, California
Votes: 0
As I got in my car at
6:20 AM, I put on my ski gloves to protect myself from the icy cold
steering wheel and pulled the strings on my hoodie to keep my head
warm. I was driving the familiar route to get to school each morning
admiring the full moon still visible in the dark sky when my eyes
started to get heavy. Remembering stories of a classmate who had
totaled her car from falling asleep while driving, I made sure to
stay awake. However, as I came to a stop at the notoriously slow
traffic light, I decided to give my eyes a little rest so that in 20
seconds I would be refreshed as ever, or at least I thought. Not
surprisingly, I dozed off until I was awakened by the loud honks of
the minivan behind me. Luckily, I only lost my pride and not my life.
According to the
Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, drowsy driving was the
cause of 72,000 crashes and 800 deaths in the year 2013.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where sleeping is seen as a waste
of time, and it is no surprise that over 30 percent of people are
chronically sleep deprived. Whether you are a student that has to
balance sports and studying or a worker who is trying to make extra
cash, sleep often seems like a hindrance to success.
In order to solve
this problem, we must not only place an emphasis on the dangers of
drowsy driving through drivers ed, but also come up with a
preventative solution for falling asleep at the wheel. In my opinion,
the best way to solve any problem is to think like an entrepreneur:
identify a prevalent problem then find a solution. Therefore, the
smartphones that killed drivers in the past are now going to save
lives.
With advancing
technology and the development of facial recognition software, our
smartphones serve as the perfect solution. Since most people already
have their phone mounted in their car for navigation, my idea is to
develop an app that will use the front camera on a smartphone to
monitor eye movement. The app will blast an alarm if the driver’s
eyes close for more than two seconds, and then silence itself when
the driver is alert. Obviously, I do not want to encourage the use of
phones while driving, so when using the app, it will block all
notifications and distractions that your phone may cause.
While it is true that
cellphone usage is the leading cause of car crashes, we must attack
the issue of automotive deaths from all sides and reexamine how we
can use our smartphones for the better. As an aspiring entrepreneur,
my goal is to use creativity and innovation to better my community
and I hope this app can bring me closer to my goal.
