Turn Off Your Phone: Driving Safety is More Important!

Turn Off Your Phone: Driving Safety is More Important!

I can hear my heartbeat throbbing in my ears, seconds after the car in front of us halts out of nowhere. A brake check? Break checks virtually do not exist on Texas roads. I should mention speed limits do not exist as well while we are on the topic. People make up for the awful traffic by making every highway their racetracks. You would think all these years of living only in Houston, Texas would accustom me to it. Of course, I will never admit it to another prideful Houstonian, but every time I get in a vehicle, I have an overwhelming fear that something can happen.

Can you honestly blame me? A random and honestly pretty rare highway break check halts every organ in my body for a second. After that initial second, statistics are the only thing running in flashes in my mind.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System or FARS estimated around 36,000 deaths by motor vehicles in the United States just in 2018. What is the most conserving statistic from the study states, “Fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16-19 year-olds is nearly three times the rate for drivers ages 20 and over.” (IHS)

The teenagers in my generation, like every other one before us, are eager to leave our small hometowns and experience life to the fullest. However, we are the generation that grew up almost entirely with the developed modern technology of today. These amazing tools of communication, serve as dangerous distractions while driving. I’d be the first to say that we are extremely dependent if not addicted to the resources and entertainment from our handheld devices. It is almost natural to pick up a phone if we are bored, uncomfortable, or in need of information. Especially with all the different social media applications.

The greatest tip I give all my friends, regardless of when they drive, is to turn off all, if not most, of their notifications, and silence their ringers. To be more attentive in the world beyond our screens, taking this small simple step can encourage us to look at our phones less often. Teenagers should challenge themselves to break social media addiction, before even driving a vehicle. As many accidents are due to the few seconds we break attention from the road to our phones. This can be prevented if the need to constantly be on our phones is eradicated. I have almost all my notifications turned off, and now in days, this can be a personalized setting while driving. Technology makes it irresistible to spend hours on social media, but it also makes it extremely easy to turn off all notifications while driving.

The second and last tip I’ll recommend to all iPhone users with the question; Have you enabled your “ Do Not Disturb While Driving” feature. Right now, go to your settings, search the word “ Driving” and make that switch turn green. Your phone will automatically go to this silent feature when you are driving. It is effortless and does not allow any notifications to distract you. Of course, you can allow emergency phone calls to pass through if you desire. This feather at the most took no more than thirty seconds, it was an effortless decision. To all my non-iPhone users, I am sure you can investigate similar features on your device.

These two tips are concise and at the least thought-provoking. I hope to look at the statistics in a few years to decrease due to technological advancements, not increase. Social media addiction is very real, but by tackling that issue first, all the effects of it such as driving fatalities can be reduced. The whole legal process to get a permit, then a license and a car are lengthy, as a result, I encourage my friends to invest time into small modifications of their everyday lives for their safety.

Works Cited

“Fatality Facts 2018: Teenagers.” IIHS, www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/teenagers#fn1.