The Truth About Distracted Driving

Nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks: Today, I’m going to drive irresponsibly. It is not a plan that people formulate as they get into their vehicle to travel to school or work or the doctor’s office. The perpetrators of reckless driving do not set out to hurt themselves or anyone else. No, what makes distracted driving so insidious is that most people believe what they are doing is not dangerous. Even though they are aware they are breaking the law, they believe they are doing it safely, that they will not be the one to cause an accident. Some think, “Sure, we’ve all heard that texting and driving is bad, but I’ll just send this one important message”. Others say “I know I’m not supposed to drive under the influence, but it’s only a short ride home”. These erroneous beliefs too often result in injuries and deaths. Many of these distracted driving accidents occur not because the drivers were malicious or evil, but because they were unaware and misguided. As a result, this variety of crash is preventable and the route to prevention is driver’s education.

First and foremost, I believe every individual should complete a driver’s education course before receiving a driver’s license. This is particularly essential for teenagers, as this age group has the highest rates of distracted driving. According to the CDC, “Drivers aged 15-19 were more likely to be distracted than drivers aged 20 and older, among drivers in crashes where someone died” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). As a teenage driver, I am alarmed by this statistic and by the fact that my peers and I are more likely to drive recklessly than any other age group. As someone who is resolutely opposed to distracted driving in all its forms, I realized that what impacted me most from my driver’s education course were the true stories of harm caused by this type of reckless driving. I can’t for the life of me remember the penalties for someone’s first, second, and third DUI, but I can still hear the immeasurable grief in the voices of the families of people killed by drunk drivers. I don’t know what the legal or fiscal repercussions would be for someone caught texting and driving, but I remember the consequences for the teenage girl who was killed on her 17th birthday by someone committing that same offense. I don’t remember how much a speeding ticket costs, but I can recall with startling clarity the driver’s ed video about the injuries six teenage girls sustained because they were speeding, blasting music, and not wearing seatbelts.

I do not believe putting emphasis on fines, insurance hikes, or misdemeanors in drivers ed is the most effective way to prevent accidents. While this type of information can be useful, the high number of driving deaths demonstrate they are inadequate at preventing irresponsible driving. The most potent method is to appeal to our conscience, our sense of morality, with real world examples of how distracted driving destroys lives. No one wants to believe they could be the person that recklessly hurts themselves or someone else. Illustrating in driver’s education classes how accidents like these can happen to any of us is essential to ending the epidemic of distracted driving.

I’ve learned first hand the damage that careless driving can do. I was eight years old when a driver rear ended my mother and I. When asked by the police what caused the accident, the driver said she was looking in the opposite direction when she hit the gas. This is the most basic form of distracted driving: simply not paying attention. The woman who hit us was not on her phone, she wasn’t drunk, and she wasn’t being distracted by other people in her car. She simply failed to drive responsibly. While I walked away from the accident unscathed, my mother suffered severe, chronic back and neck pain for years. This inhibited her greatly and it was horrible to watch someone that I love go through something so awful, due solely to the fact that a driver had not paid close attention.

Because of this personal experience with reckless driving, I suggest that every ten years, license holders be required to take a booster driver’s education course to review the rules and responsibilities of the road. After this course, each driver should be given a new road test. This would greatly reduce accident rates, and would weed out drivers that are not operating safely and provide them with additional education to make the roads safer for us all. Many other important types of licenses require ongoing education to maintain. In regards to medical licenses, “Physicians should maintain records of their continuing medical education (CME) activities…To renew a medical license, physicians must certify compliance with state CME requirements” (Massachusetts Medical Society). What do these two licenses have in common? Drivers and doctors both have the duty to protect the lives of others. That is the reason I’m proposing continued education not just for medical licenses, but for driver’s licenses as well.

Life moves quickly and it can seem like multitasking safely is attainable while driving. It is imperative that we remember this is not the case. There have been many times while driving that I’ve wanted to answer a text or pick up a phone call and I’ve had to use my willpower to stop myself. Resisting the urge to take part in other activities while driving can be challenging, but there are strategies we can implement to ensure we arrive at our destination safely, distraction free. One important suggestion is, “If another activity demands your attention, instead of trying to attempt it while driving, pull off the road and stop your vehicle in a safe place. To avoid temptation, power down or stow devices before heading out” (AAA). Complying with simple measures such as this don’t just make sure we remain focused; they could make sure no one ever learns the story of our accident in a driver’s ed video.

Works Cited

AAA. “Tips for Preventing Distracted Driving.” Exchange AAA, exchange.aaa.com/safety/distracted-driving/tips-for-preventing-distracted-driving/. Accessed 25 July 2021.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “Transportation Safety: Distracted Driving.” Center For Disease Control and Prevention, 2 Mar. 2021, www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/distracted_driving/index.html#factsheet. Accessed 25 July 2021.

Massachusetts Medical Society. “Continuing Medical Education Requirements for Physician License Renewal in Massachusetts.” Massachusetts Medical Society, www.massmed.org/Continuing-Education-and-Events/Continuing-Medical-Education-Requirements-for-Physician-License-Renewal-in-Massachusetts/. Accessed 25 July 2021.