2020 Drivers Ed Essay Contest

Shealyn Kulp

7/17/2020

2020 Drivers Ed Essay Contest

As a person who hasn’t been driving very long, I have learned that I have a bad habit that could be potentially dangerous. No, it isn’t texting or anything to do with my phone. It’s actually something else that at first would seem harmless. My worst driving habit is messing with the radio and blaring my music.

I’m not going to lie, I love music. The louder the better. When I have on headphones or I am simply listening to music in the comfort of my own home, it is always as loud as it can be. I love concerts because the music is loud and it just sounds way better, especially rock and EDM. What I didn’t realize was that driving with really loud music could be potentially dangerous.

Another distraction that I have is messing with the buttons on the radio. Not all cars have the controls on the steering wheel. So, if I’m not digging the vibe of the music that is on that particular station, I will take my eyes off the road and search for a better one. That’s just as bad as texting and driving. I did some research and found that “One danger of changing the radio while driving is the manual distraction. … Radio programs can also pose a cognitive distraction. When listening to talk radio, the weather, or other programming that requires a certain level of your attention, your mind is focused on the radio and is distracted from the task of driving” (maggianolaw.com). People like myself don’t think that looking away for a few seconds to hit a button could be dangerous, but it is just as bad as looking away for a few seconds to look at a text.

When you are blaring music as I do, you don’t have your full attention on sounds that are around you. For example, you are driving down the road, jamming out to some N’Sync, not having your full attention on the road, someone could be beeping at you or trying to get your attention because there is danger ahead. If you don’t hear that beep or that person yelling for you, the situation could become fatal for you or others around you.

What I have learned by being a new driver and by observing other drivers around me is that we cant only try to keep ourselves safe on the road. It is a team effort to prevent accidents and other tragedies. So, I need to not be distracted when behind a wheel. To start, I just need to keep my music down. There’s a time and a place for loud music, and when I’m driving is not one of them. Also, to keep me from fidgeting with the radio, I could make a CD with the music that I listen to. I could also connect my phone via BlueTooth or aux-in before I start driving and play a playlist that I created on Spotify of all the music I like. I obviously would then put my phone on do not disturb and keep it away from my view. Out of sight, out of mind, as people like to say. It is very important to stay safe behind the wheel, so this opportunity to find my distraction and learn how to overcome it has been very beneficial and I will take this to heart.