Distractions Behind the Wheel

“Nope, not this one, I don’t really like this song anymore, ugh stupid commercials, ooo yeah this is the one!” When you pick the music you want to drive to, you need to make sure to do it before your foot moves off of the brake. As you sit in your car, making choices on how to drive and how to get there, you need to push away all of the distractions to stay focused and keep your eyes on the road. Teenagers are often distracted and tend to use their phones while they drive, whether it is to change the song, check a snapchat, or send a quick text. In your mind, it is always quick, until you veer into the next lane, not paying attention and put your life and someone else’s in danger.

In drivers education courses, they teach you to always stay alert, to always watch out because even though you may be paying attention to yourself, you need to keep your eyes peeled for other drivers not paying attention. Before you take your driver’s test, your state requires a certain amount of hours in drivers education courses to ensure your safety and others. By knowing how to properly handle the road, a new driver is more equipped to be able to keep themselves and others out of harm’s way. One second of fatigue or distraction can cause a fatality on the road; however, in drivers education, they teach you how to maintain your focus and become a strong driver. The first step to reduce the number of fatalities on the road is keeping the phone out of reach. If you cannot see or touch your phone, you are less likely to get distracted by it and want to check the notification, or why the screen just lit up. The second step is to never drive when you are over emotional or too tired to keep your eyes open. If you are blinded by rage or close your eyes a little too long to blink, you may not see that car running a red light or the pedestrian jaywalking across the road. The third and final step is to always watch out for others. Even though you may be alert, content, and focused, someone else on the road could be angry, or tired, or distracted by their phone to the point where they veer into your lane. In order to keep the road a safe place, you need to know by heart what you were taught in drivers education.

This past year, it was my first time parking in the school parking lot when I got into my first car accident. I was slowly pulling out of my high school parking spot when he whipped out around the corner, focused on going home. He did not see me and we both braked at the same time, barely touching each other’s cars. This was my first ever accident and I started to freak out- apologizing to him profusely- he was angry and touched his bumper, which proceeded to fall off. He called his mom and I overheard him laughing about how this was his third car accident of the week. I knew at that moment that he truly did not care that this had happened. He had been distracted and did not care that his bad driving affected others on the road. It made me angry that someone could be so callous and uncaring about others’ safety. The police were not called because we were on school property, and we both went our separate ways after he put his car back together. The point is, that had he been going at a faster speed, or had I, the accident could have been a lot worse. We both could have been injured, or our cars could have been wrecked; thankfully neither of these results occurred. This driver was not applying the information they had learned in driving school and could have hurt others. Recklessness does not make you cool, it makes you unkind and irresponsible.

I know that I am not above what I am writing about. I can get distracted or can be driving while I am tired, but it is important to remain aware that it is never just about you. When you get in your car, with your music, your directions, your intent, your driving will never only affect you, considering you will never be the only person on the road. My sister is currently learning to drive and is taking drivers education courses. I want to remain a good driving example so she knows how to focus on others while she drives and how to keep herself safe. The steps I want to take to ensure I become a safer driver are to make sure my phone is somewhere I cannot see it and to always remain calm as I drive. I advise others to do the same and be conscious of how they are feeling when they get behind the wheel.