One Man’s Text is Another Man’s Tragedy

Casey
Allen

COFC
Freshman

18
June 2019

One
Man’s Text is Another Man’s Tragedy

The
freedom of driving is one like no other. Blaring music as you drive
in the summer with your friends and playing road trip games with your
family on your way to your grandparents house can become some of your
fondest memories. However, these opportunities to get out of the
house and explore life are often taken for granted just by picking up
one’s cell phone to take a quick picture or send that “On My
Way!” text. Soon enough the freedom of driving finds itself tangled
in the repercussions of causing a fatal accident which could have
been avoided by ignoring the notification on your phone.

From
pioneers to slaves of technology, the average person will touch their
phone around 2,617 times a day. Smartphone apps give access to users
to share their location which is a fun idea to express where you
spent your vacation or got dinner, not for a post on the road. We
live in an age where there are many configurations on these phones to
set up “Driving Modes” which will send an automatic text when you
receive a message or alert but many people overestimate their
willpower when it comes to putting down their phones. Not only are
these settings a privilege, so is the ability to take driving
classes. Drivers ed can come in the form of hands-on
classes to driving simulations online, allowing almost everyone to
prepare themselves for the road. In my personal experience, I have
done both types of courses and they have covered the dangers of
texting while driving. If you are given the opportunity to take an
extra drivers ed class, I would highly recommend as however time
consuming, they both taught me various, important lessons. All in
all, the most critical thing you can do to prevent a death due to
phone usage, is to understand and apply the priority of getting to a
location safely rather than to use your phone.

In
the 2 years I have been driving, I have luckily never been in a car
accident. I say “luckily” because no matter what precautions I
take to keep my phone out of reach, you never know what someone else
might be doing in their car. Unfortunately, my friend totaled her car
on her way to school one day. A girl showed up to the school parking
lot screaming about how she just witnessed a terrible accident and
how terrifying it was; I instantly felt sick to my stomach and did a
headcount of my friends who were currently present. I heard my phone
ring and looked at the caller ID to see my friend’s name and as I
answered I jokingly said, “Please don’t tell me it was you in the
accident…” only to receive a response of sobs and frantic claims
about how they “didn’t see the car coming”. There was no saving
the car they drove and a few injuries were endured, but there were no
fatalities.

There
is so much you can do to attempt to protect yourself and others while
driving. I constantly offer to send texts or navigate for the driver.
Refreshing one’s knowledge of the rules of the road is extremely
valuable and is not in any way a waste of you time. Make use of
technology in progressive ways by letting people know you are about
to drive and will call them when you arrive or are parked. Nobody
will be angry to know that you reached your destination safely.