Distracted Driving Does Not Mean Safe Driving

More than just driver education, but overall, I think needs to be incorporated is alcohol education as well as recognizing that multitasking in general takes away our focus to accomplish a singular goal in a way that is fast, efficient and safe. A great example is when Pokemon Go first came out and everyone instead of blaming the player of the game for not paying attention while they were walking onto a street with an oncoming car, instead blamed the game for being so addictive. Games being addictive is nothing new, but an interactive game that takes place in the real world is just like driving a car. The venue where it takes place is important to avoid accidents. Play in a house or an open field, the same way cars drive on the road instead of on sidewalks.

I think if people did more multitasking exercises that weren’t explicitly taking place in a fast moving vehicle, but rather an obstacle that could safely be taken place, the experience of bumping into things would be internalized and better applied to focusing on the road instead of their phone or digging through a glove compartment.

My senior year in high school, my sister’s friend drove us home with the permission of our mom. We lived 10min away from school and even though the speed limit was 20mph, she was always on her phone because she thought she was “safe” driving so slow. Someone ran a stop sign and because she was looking on her phone instead of the road, was unable to avoid the collision that happened on my side. I was so angry because it could have been avoided.

Now that I have my own car, I always make sure everyone is buckled in safely. Driving is scary enough driving alone, and too have the pressure of someone else’s life in your hands should something go wrong is a lot. So I always make sure my music playlist is ready before I start driving anywhere so all I have to do is press a button on my steering wheel too change the song or podcast that’s been predownloaded instead of scrolling and looking for something specific. I also prefer to drive alone, especially when I’m driving someone else in an unfamiliar place, I ask them to stop talking for a moment because even a conversation can be distracting.