Better Left Unread Than Dead

The sun shone peacefully, illuminating my path to the community pool where I worked that summer. I was a mere two minutes away from work, nodding my head along to the music drifting from my speakers. My car stopped in the left turn lane and I glanced momentarily at my rearview mirror, only to see a car zooming toward me with no intention to stop. I couldn’t scream and I had no time to move out of the way. Everything happened so quickly that all I remember is looking at my crumpled hood, which had hit the car in front of me, and convincing myself that I wasn’t dreaming.

It wasn’t a fatal car accident, but it could have been. I experienced my first ambulance ride that day when I should have been scanning the pool water to save other people’s lives. The driver behind me had been texting and not paying attention to the long line of cars in front of him. My car was totaled, his was severely damaged if not worse. The vehicle and driver in front of me held up alright, but it was a traumatic experience for all of us.

Texting and driving is the poster child for safe driving adverts. Despite this common tactic, many still do it. Part of the reason is the immunity complex so many people have, which tells them that they are the exception to the rule. Even though they’re educated on the subject, perhaps the mode of education is most important. For example, simply telling someone not to text and drive is less convincing than showing them photo and video examples of the damage texting and driving can cause, or having them listen to someone’s personal experience.

While I was blessed enough to survive the car accident, too many others are not. The National Safety Council has found that 1.6 million crashes are caused by texting and driving per year in the US, and that nearly 390,000 of those result in injury (Edgar Snyder). However, I can admit that I used to text and drive as a teenager before my accident. I too experienced the immunity complex, and unfortunately it took something traumatic to fully illustrate to me just how dangerous it was. Since then, I have not texted and driven. This is not to say that car accidents are the only solution. I think another great tactic is the billboards I see on major highways. If they have shocking statistics or statements, they catch my attention and are a constant reminder of the risks associated with texting and driving.

To conclude, I believe that approaching drivers ed from a multimedia standpoint, along with continuing that education past the time of licensing is imperative in reducing the number of texting-related car accidents, injuries, and fatalities. With these tactics in mind, we can all contribute by educating each other and holding ourselves and those close to us accountable for our driving habits.