Distracted Driving

Distracted
Driving

The importance of
drivers ed is crucial in reducing the number of deaths as
a result of driving. Making sure
people have prior knowledge of the dangers, helps
to put an end to the immense number of casualties lost to
highway catastrophes. According to the National Highway
Traffic Association, 3, 477 people were killed in
a car accident related to distracted driving in
2015. This tragedy not only happens here but
also in the future. According to TeenSafe’s
“100 Distracted Driving Facts & Statistics for 2018”,
“…there are 3,278 deaths each day due
to fatal car crashes. On average, nine of
these daily fatalities are related to distracted
driving.” Throughout the years, I have
gotten used to the constant use of technology that
distracts people from keeping their eyes on
the road. Yet, now that I see the damage that
it has done, I struggle with the ongoing process
of it all. On a continual basis, people are on
their phones messaging, checking, and forwarding various
things while they
are driving. This behavior has become a common thing
for plenty of individuals and is without a doubt
life-threatening. One memorable situation for
me happened some years ago. I was small,
yet it still had an effect on me. My grandad (only in
his 40’s) wasn’t the best driver. Somehow
he managed to drive under a moving truck
on the highway which was pretty scary for
us, passengers. Thankfully, his car was small enough
that it passed through under the truck, and
we made it out alive. Several months from
that day my grandmother got into several car
crashes, which weren’t severe but sort of altered my outlook on
driving. The task itself requires a lot of attention. People need to remain focus if
they desire to avoid causing an accident. After going through what I went
through, I am more careful to think about
my actions while driving. Although, driving can be
awesome and fun,
it has its repercussions. If you are not educated about
these consequences, and fortunately
enough I was, you can put your own and
many other lives at stake in
one moment of time. What you don’t know can hurt you and
so many other people. Educating yourself is the
first step in helping to ensure safety on
the road. The next step
is taking those measures needed to be a safe driver,
like eliminating the number of distractions that
there are around you. If staying off your phone is a major hardship
for you, then downloading and using apps
like LifeSaver, Truemotion, and Drivemode may be great ways
to motivate you to stay focus. These apps help to eliminate the number of
incoming notifications that you receive, keep track of
your speed, and shares your location with
others. In addition, they’ll send an automatic text
response to others notifying them that you are driving. As
an individual, I see myself using these helpful methods
to create safer roads for everyone.