Name: Callie Roberts
From: Lenexa, Kansas
Votes: 0
Growing up, I had never even thought of texting and driving. My
parents have always been extremely precautious while on the road,
even pulling over to eat food for just a quick second. I guess I
didn’t take after them as much as I had hoped however, because my
very first car accident was because I was distractedly driving.
Though I had always seen my parents being smart drivers, I never
really knew why. I had never read up on the statistics, had always
written off the PSA’s about it as not applying to me. I never
really knew the full impact that my actions could have on others if I
wasn’t fully dedicating all my attention to the road. Knowing just
how dangerous these actions are and putting them in perspective can
vastly reduce the amount of lives taken due to car accidents because
being informed will teach people to keep their eyes on the road
instead of on their phones or other devices that could potentially
take their attention away from what is in front of them. The PSA’s
that were thrown in my face during drivers ed didn’t do
anything to help with this issue for me and a lot of my graduating
class, but I do think that they are a step in the right direction. No
public announcement is going to completely eradicate the people who
are driving distracted and unaware of the consequences their actions
could have, yet there are certain things that could lower the
likelihood of kids growing up and thinking that that sort of behavior
is okay. Teaching children from the time that they are in middle
school about the dangers of being distracted while driving and giving
them hard numbers and proof on how big of a problem this is. Put it
into perspective for them, show them real stories, because being
informed about how many are killed a year because of being distracted
while driving will greatly reduce the amount of kids who just throw
it off as another scare tactic that doesn’t apply to them. I know
that I was one of those kids, and since my accident I’ve done my
best to stay as vigilant on the road as I can. Being informed about
the consequences that my actions may have on both the people around
me and myself has led me to be much more careful about how I drive,
but there is still more to do. I still sometimes find myself zoning
out into the road ahead of me or being really tempted to check my
phone just this one time, but there are always ways that I can
prevent this from happening. Turning on my phones “Do Not Disturb”
setting and listening to some quiet music helps to keep me in the
moment. Sometimes it comes down to a willingness to self-improve, but
helping by providing access to the information that gets the ball
rolling is sometimes the best push we can give.
