The Real Cost of Distracted Driving

The Real Cost of Distracted Driving

The screeching lights of the Paramedics. The blaring lights of the Cop Cars. Bombardment of people looking over the yellow tape. Getting into an accident is one of the most heart-pounding parts of being in a vehicle. It’s also the most overlooked. An average of 34,000 people in America dies each year because of driving. Keep in mind that this annual number is more than most of the wars that America has participated in. If it is more likely to be killed in the comfort of your vehicle than protecting our country, how we can stop it?

Before we start to solve the problem, we need to find the problem itself. There have already been laws enforced nationwide to prevent driving under the influence, and sobriety points to prevent possible accidents before they’re caused. The problem, however, doesn’t only stem from there. not driving under the influence, must be something that we are doing while sober.

The concept of eating, drinking, or taking a phone call while driving may seem familiar or normal to you, but it also may be to blame. So, what is distracted driving? Defined as “activity that distracts the operator of a motor vehicle from driving and increases their risk of an accident, there are four major types of distractions: Auditory, Visual, Manual and Cognitive.

Manual is when you’re focusing your hands on something other than the steering wheel, like eating. Auditory is when your ears are focused on something non-driving related like other passengers inside of the vehicle. The most well-known and most dangerous type of distractions is visual, which is the act of taking your eyes off the road to focus on something else, like texting. Cognitive is when you think about something else while driving, similar to zoning out, daydreaming, or tunnel vision. These distractions are responsible for 14% of all police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes and 8% of fatal crashes.  

Roughly a month ago of the writing of this essay, my close friend got into an accident. He was on his way to school and he just so happened to check his phone to see what his mom had texted him. As he looked down, he was taking a right turn, and a car trying to beat the light ended up hitting him. Though he did not die, he was slightly injured and mentally shaken up from the situation. If he had simply turned his phone off or put it on do not disturb, he would have seen the car and the crash could have been avoided.

So what can we do to stop prevent distracted during and save lives? We can bring more awareness to the cause. Keep your phone on silent when you’re, or better yet, turn it off. Be mindful of your friends when they drive. Call them out when they start to look at their phones to start getting too passionate about the conversation in the car. You may look like a buzzkill, but it’s better to be safe than be dead.

Sources

[email protected]. “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” NHTSA, 5 Oct. 2020, www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving.

“Mobile Devices Are a Form of Distracted Driving.” Perdue & Kidd, 29 Aug. 2019, www.perdueandkidd.com/blog/distracted-driving/.