Deadly Distractions

Deadly Distractions

Meghan Montagne

Drivers Ed Scholarship

Education is one of the most important aspects of a person’s life, it not only teaches valuable lessons in many subject areas, but also helps develop necessary skills to live a comfortable and safe life. Drivers ed is a great way to develop the skills necessary to operate a vehicle for the safety of a person and everyone else on the road. Taking a drivers ed course provides the opportunity to learn ways to be safer on the road and holds the potential to reduce the instances of death during accidents. When a person is aware of all the hazard while on the road, they are less likely to cause accidents and more likely to know what to do when an accident does happen.

Reducing driving related deaths includes not being distracted and always following the rules of the road. These things can be accomplished by teaching the reasoning behind their importance and ensuring drivers understand how to handle themselves while driving. Not being distracted by cell phones or other people in the vehicle and being aware of road signs, rules and other drivers are the most important ways to avoid accidents and fatalities.

Just like most drivers my friends and family can often be distracted, mostly by their phones. When a text or call comes in it is easy to answer, but this is a good way to cause accidents. Any time a driver uses their phone it reduces their peripheral visibility significantly regardless of if they are texting or calling. When I am in the car with someone on their phone, I tell them of the hazards and offer to complete their text or call for them. If they want to complete their call or text themselves, I suggest pulling off the road and doing so there.

I have been guilty of being a distracted and dangerous driver in the past. I have texted or called while driving, changes the music multiple times or simply been not paying attention. Doing these things not only endangers myself, but everyone else in a vehicle on the road. I often find myself speeding or veering into the other lanes when I am distracted. To stay safe, I have begun to use a feature that automatically lets people know that I am driving when they attempt to call or text me. I also preselect the music I want to hear before I start to drive so that I won’t need to change the song. Distracted driving affects most people and is something very easy to fix that can and will reduce accidents on the road.