Name: Walker Davidson
From: Stockbridge, GA
Votes: 0
Walker Davidson
16 July 2019
Driver
Education Initiative Essay
Driving is one of the largest responsibilities given to Americans
today. Many men, women, and students are given the keys to a
3500-pound weapon and are simply told not to use their phone or to
turn the radio down while driving. A car, like many other objects,
can be a very useful or very deadly tool based on how it is handled.
Drivers ed has taught me, among thousands of other teenagers,
the magnitude of the consequences of distracted driving.
Today, there are many laws, such as the Hands-Free Law in Georgia,
that prohibit drivers from using cell phones, even at stoplights.
Despite these laws and the hefty fines that follow, I still look
around at stops and notice many drivers frantically typing away last
minute messages. When not stopped, I often see drivers attempting to
maneuver with one hand while they desperately try to send a text or
make a phone call. If we want people to change the use of cellular
devices while driving, we must change two things: the device settings
and our hearts. Many companies have developed a lock mechanism on a
phone for when someone has incorrectly input the password 5 times.
While locked, the phone owner is still able to make emergency calls
but nothing past that. Many companies could utilize this mechanism
and enable access to only a map and emergency calls. This could be
enabled much like Do Not Disturb While Driving. This would
dramatically reduce the number of deaths and accidents as a result of
distracted driving. No law or device setting will completely
eradicate the use of phones while driving because people will always
find a way around it. The solution is an internal change. We must set
a personal goal to not be distracted while driving and then walk our
talk. We can not force other people to set these same goals, but we
can set an example for them.
Thankfully, I’ve never had the experience of being in a car wreck,
besides a little tap from behind. Sadly, I have watched many of my
friends pull out of the school parking lot driving recklessly,
scaring me to death that I might be attending their funeral the next
month. I never want to attend one of my friend’s funerals in high
school knowing they had so much potential in life and my personal
goal is to not put my friends in that situation either.
As a driver, I always make sure to turn on Do Not Disturb and then to
set my phone down in either the console or in my bookbag in the
passenger seat. By doing this, it becomes very hard to reach my phone
which eliminates the temptation to check my notifications. This has
helped me dramatically and has resulted in me being more aware of
what’s going on around me on the road and has prevented many
accidents that would have happened had I been distracted.
