Distracted Driving

33% of deaths among 13-19 year olds in 2010 occured in motor vehicle crashes according to dosomething.org. Out of that age group 16 year olds are taking ownership of being the highest in crashing rates. When you turn 16 and take that test, you don’t just receive a license, you receive responsibility for your actions as well as others, you receive constant stress and possible consequences.

Being 19 years old and having my license 3 years now I thankfully have not had any vehicle accidents. Yet I still carry responsibility for my actions,, I catch myself veering off the side of the highway or occasionally running a stop light, or maybe even forgetting to look when I take a right turn. Even though I haven’t personally been in an accident, it is still important to be cautious because something dangerous and life threatening could happen in a blink of an eye.

My best friend from high school got in a really bad car accident leading him to be ejected from the car and paralyzed from the waist down. Not being cautious while driving can lead to very serious conditions in life. Just like my friend we think we’re indestructible and we never see ourselves getting into these citations, yet they happen unexpectedly. That is why we need to remain cautious behind the wheel at all times.

From my own experience with driving for three years now I constantly catch myself performing multiple variations of distracted driving. The most common distracted driving habit I perform is texting while driving. I learned my lesson with this habit by getting pulled over on the side of the highway by a state trooper. Being yelled at on I70 in front of ongoing traffic isn’t the most ideal situation and definitely opened my eyes to what consequences could come from my actions. Another action I partake in is messing with my radio which is not anything better than texting while driving. I also tend to try to eat and drive.

I plan to take several precautions in ending these dangerous driving habits. To prevent me from texting and driving I will turn on driving mode on my phone that will not allow you to perform any tasks on phone while driving, I will also try to place my phone inside my purse or in my back seat so I am not obligated to access it. To allow myself to stop messing with the radio I will set a playlist on my phone to play through so I am not constantly distracted trying to find something to listen to. To allow myself to stop being distracted by eating and driving I will allow myself enough time to eat before I am in my vehicle or once I get food park my car until I am finished so I am no longer performing dangerous activities.

Hearing my dad’s stories from his paramedic days has been quite eye opening. Performing distracted driving can accompany life threatening situations to yourself and to others.