Name: Madison Witkowski
From: Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Votes: 0
Every
year, more and more lives are lost due to distracted driving.
Although many people stand opposed to distracted driving, a number of
them admit that they themselves have responded to a text or an email
while driving before. According to EndDD and NHTSA, “37,461 lives
were lost on U.S. roads in 2016, an increase of 5.6% from 2015. Also
according to EndDD and IIHS, “The fatal crash rate for teens is 3
times greater than for drivers age 20 and over.” In order for us to
be able to lower those percentages, we have to understand why people
become distracted while driving.
The
most common reason for distracted driving involves using your
cellphone. Whether you are speaking to your boss on the phone or
texting your friends, your attention is not on the road which can
lead to a fatal accident. If you are driving to someplace that you
have never been before, you are probably using a GPS. While they are
great at telling you where to go, they can also be great at making
you take your eyes off the road. A very common cause of distraction,
especially for people around my age, is streaming music and changing
the song you are listening to while you’re driving. I have been in
cars where my friend will be driving and will want to change the
song. Instead of just asking me to change it, my friend will take
their eyes off the road and do it themselves.
Fortunately,
there are many ways that you can avoid distracted driving. If I am
having a conversation with someone over text or call, I let them know
that I will be driving soon and that I will text or call back later
before I even get into the car. If you do this, your friends will
hopefully stop texting you until you text back when you are out of
the car again. So that I’m not picking up my phone after every
song, I create playlists on my phone and just hit shuffle. If a song
that I do not want to listen to starts playing, I can just skip it
without having to pick up my phone or take my eyes off the road.
Lastly, if I am using a GPS, I put my phone in a spot where I can
easily see it. I also turn the volume up so I can listen to the
directions and try to avoid looking at the screen.
I
believe that if more people realize the serious consequences
distracted driving can have, we can reduce the number of deaths
associated with it. With better drivers ed and more tips on
how to stay attentive as a driver, we can feel safer whether we are
in the passenger seat or behind the wheel.
