Accidents happen, right?

The sound of the rain hitting the windshield is thundering. The vipers are moving furiously. I give the indicator to make lane change to the left. Bam! My fender smacks into the car to the left. That was midnight two weeks ago. It was raining, it was late, accidents happen, right? Yes, but guess what I left out? I was distracted as I looked at my phone on the dash mount, to see if my friend replied to my text. Distracted driving makes a crash 23 times more likely. It causes more than nine deaths, and 1000 injuries everyday. Fortunately, in my case no one had injuries and the vehicles only had slight physical damage. But, that’s all it was — fortunate. Distracted driving, especially with texting and social media, is a huge problem. However, a combination of financial incentives, gamification techniques, and better driving education can help curb the problem.

Though the human impact of accidents caused by distracted driving is devastating, these accidents can also have a very real financial impact. In my case, once I realized that there were no injuries, I started to panic at the thought of my insurance premiums going through the roof, the cost of having my car repaired, and so on. One would think they should be thankful for getting out of it physically unscathed, but most people don’t have that perspective, at least not immediately. Even with the correct perspective, it’s hard to deny that the financial hardship people suffer after accidents is not significant, especially with teenagers and people in their early 20s. Most insurance providers already have programs that let you track the quality of your driving to lower your rates, then why not add voluntary tracking of phone usage while driving to reward those who are disciplined and avoid using their phone while driving. Not only would this create a more fair system of analyzing the individual risk, but also create incentives for people to be more focused drivers.

Although it would be great if everybody could stay away from their phones, not use social media apps, and be more focused on the dangerous task that is driving, it would be unfair to place one hundred percent of the blame on the individual. Social media apps are very hard to resist. Every single feature from likes, followers, feeds, notifications, and more is gamified and designed in a way that it is irresistible for the average individual. It is a known fact that the human brain responds in specific ways to certain patterns, colors, design, reinforcement, and more. Social media companies over the last decades have become giant tech behemoths that have developed AI systems that have figured out how to manipulate the brain’s reward system to keep users engaged and on the screen for as long as possible. Nothing absolves the individual of their responsibility towards their own, and others’ safety, but it does give a window into why a problem that didn’t exist ten years ago has become so prevalent. The same reward system can promote healthier and more responsible behavior. People could track their behaviors, get a score, and then compare it against their friends and peers in a competitive manner. The same principle that distracts people, would promote safer behaviors in an engaged manner.

Financial issues, and big tech’s manipulation of our minds aside, the human impact is the most devastating aspect of driving accidents. We lose thousands of people every year to accidents involving distracted drivers. In my case, while I was worried about the financial loss and impact after the collision, my parents were relieved. That wasn’t surprising at all. Parents are always concerned for their children’s safety, and especially in situations involving 1.5 ton objects colliding at 50 mph. Family and friends not only have a huge role to play in the aftermath of an accident, but also in preventing it. Most of us will remember sitting through a safety seminar with our parents for Drivers Ed class. However, sitting teenagers and their busy parents down for three hours and going through powerpoint slides is not an effective way of communication. We need better driving education and more family involvement starting at the high school level. Anything from regular driving evaluations, to special training for parents. The better we communicate the impact of distracted driving, the less likely it is to happen.

As a society, we have to make major changes in how we think about driving and how we teach it. Change must happen on the local levels to more effectively teach driving safety. Everyone should be more aware of how social media manipulates our reward system. We also have to create more financial incentives for people to help do that. We can all do our part making sure our friends and family are safe drivers, lobbying local school systems, and using social media responsibly.