Text vs Life A Ongoing Debate

Text vs Life: A Ongoing Debate

With one hand on the steering wheel, my dad began to text on his phone with the other, peering up at the road momentarily. I gripped onto the seatbelt that held me into the car seat, my nails digging into my palms. I watched between my dad’s texting and the road ahead of me, pleading that nothing bad is going to happen. Yet, I said nothing, remembering the endless times that I have sent a quick text while driving. The number of times I thought it’s fine. But now sitting on the passenger seat, I began to understand the nervousness it must have made my family/ friends felt when I was driving irresponsibly.

In these moments, we as the driver are tempted to feel invincible, thinking that a quick text or a sip of coffee wouldn’t matter as we travel on the road, opposingly these are the same thirty seconds that decides life or death. In driver’s education you will learn that even driving at 30km/h in a neighborhood could cause a fatal death if a car accident was to occur. And that likelihood would increase 20 times if the impact was done on a highway when the speed limit is 80km/h. Outside of teaching the basics of street signs and safety guides when driving, one of the most important lessons in driver Ed is understanding the aftermath of a crash. By viewing multiple documentaries, you will learn that your ruthlessness in driving could cause an entire family to grief in pain from the loss of their beloved one, or you could be the villain of taking away a five year olds bright future by paralyzing them. But the worst is the guilt of knowing you could have prevented that accident from occurring in the first place. There would be nothing that you can do after the accident occurs, so let’s try to prevent it from happening by attending Driver’s Ed as the first step.

The next time you drive, remind yourself of the nervous feeling of being the passenger, understand you are responsible for the life of the people in your car. Begin by putting away all distractions: silencing/turning off your phone, setting food and drinks aside, adjusting mirrors and seats to your liking, and making sure everyone is wearing their seatbelts (including you). Then, relax mentally and physically. And finally off you go.

Now that you have learned these steps to become a safer driver, become the activist that makes sure everyone else drives safely when you’re the passenger. Instead of gripping the seatbelt and mentally hoping to get to the destination safely, actively ask the driver to set down the phone, place both hands on the wheel for better control, or even eat the last glazed donut so it’s not so tempting and cause a distraction for the driver.

Become a safe driver and take control, not only for the people around you, but for your own sake. The next time you debate about multitasking while driving, ask yourself, is this text or sip of coffee more important than your life?