Pocket Points

I don’t drive but I plan on taking a driver education course even though I’m an adult. Many of my friends took a driver education course, which helped them to become an effective and defensive driver. Their classes helped them to be more aware, focused, and ready to make quick and smart decisions.

As a child, I was in a car accident while my mother was driving. We were the only two in the car and only two blocks from our house. It was early in the morning and I was only 5 years old, but I will never forget that experience. It happened so fast and my mother did “the right thing” by stopping her vehicle, but she regrets some of the choices she made that day. Due to this traumatic experience, I was uncomfortable learning to drive while in high school. Now that I am in college, I’m ready to start driving.

My friends and I discovered you can earn points, which could be used for discounts due to safe driving through an app called Pocket Points. This app was originally created to help young adults stay focused during classes, but recently a few new features were added. Now one can earn points for undistracted driving and for staying off your phone while sleeping.

Young adults usually don’t have tons of cash and are often looking for a good deal! I greatly enjoy using my earned points at Chic-fil-a. To help this program grow, community members could start to ask more businesses to get involved in Pocket Points, which will help motivate more people to join, earn points, and make good choices with phone usage. And who doesn’t love free food or a good deal?

The Pocket Point app collects data that you can review, so young adults can see how many distractions, how many minutes of distractions, and the location of distractions. Also, it reviews one’s undistracted moments, so positives are reinforced as well. The app lets you know how many points were gained or lost while driving. All these features are great for reviewing one’s usage and for goal setting.

A phone isn’t the only distracter for young adults while driving. Often people are in a rush, so they eat, put on make-up, mess with their hair, etc… while driving, which leads to unfocused and distracted driving. Unfortunately, some people learn the hard way by making the mistake themselves or some people learn an easier way by observing other’s mistakes. My mother always says it’s okay to make mistakes but learn from them and learn from other’s mistakes. Young drivers could watch clips of other’s mistakes or hear stories from others, which might help them learn without experiencing it the “hard way.”

With all the new age technology that is in the current cars right now, drivers should be getting into fewer car accidents. Also, we should be more aware of distractions and how to control them even if it requires some motivation.