The Mindful Approach to Driver Safety

Each day, millions of people leave their homes to drive to important destinations: workplaces, hospitals, schools, the houses of family members, and countless other possibilities. Mothers drive carefully to daycare centers with their children in the backseat, eager to send them off to a fun day of education and growth. High school students commute in the early hours of the morning, off to take critical exams that determine their future career field. Paramedics and emergency medical workers transport trauma patients to receive life-saving care, their presence marked by shrill sirens and flashing red lights. No matter the driver or the destination, highway safety ensures that each and every one of these people arrives safely. Mindfulness of highway safety helps drivers, regardless of their experience, prevent accidents and deaths as a result of collisions. Educating drivers about highway safety, practicing safe, mindful driving and exercising healthy sleep habits all contribute to a safer, more secure highway and to less accident-related deaths.

One of the most important tenets of highway safety is awareness and education, especially for new drivers, such as teenagers who just passed their license test. When learning to drive, experienced and patient instructors are critical, and taking the time to earn all the required driving hours ensures that all who take their driving test will be well-equipped to pass. While driving lessons prove to be extremely valuable for new drivers, they often cost quite a bit of money, which may put some new drivers at a disadvantage because of financial concerns in their family. However, preventing driving accidents and deaths is an absolutely critical concern, so schools and communities benefit from making driver education more accessible. One option that makes driver education readily available for students is mandating driver’s education courses as necessary to graduate. Each state puts regulations into place for how many required hours of practice new drivers need to get their license, and having a mandatory class built into the school day ensures that busy students balance the critical life skill of driving with all of the other extracurriculars, school events, sports, and part-time jobs that occupy so much of their time. Also, driver education classes ensure that parents feel safe in letting their children drive. Often, parents work long hours and look after other children in the house, so taking their teens to learn to drive might fall by the wayside amongst other priorities. No parent should have to compromise their child’s safety and education, though. With mandatory driving classes instilled in the high school curriculum, parents are reassured that their child is learning to drive safely. Driver’s education centers and schools can do their part in making new drivers aware and educated by mandating driving classes in schools, which benefits both the driver’s safety and their parents’ peace of mind.

As with learning any new skill, healthy and mindful practices pave the way to reaching a goal, and driving is no exception; by encouraging healthy and safe driving, communities can drasticallty reduce the number of driving-related deaths. For example, communities can invest in programs that promote driving sober and resisting risky habits such as texting while driving, which, according to the NHTSA, causes nearly 400 deaths per year in the United States alone. No social media post or text holds more importance than a person’s life, and drivers need to understand this in order to protect themselves, pedestrians, and other drivers from tragically fatal collisions. In the split second that it takes to check a simple text, a catastrophic accident can occur, and encouraging safe driving habits mitigates this risk. I remember sitting in the passenger seat of my mother’s car one day, coming home from school, when I witnessed an accident on the side of the road. Thick, dark smoke filled the air, forming dense clouds that made it difficult to see, and the scent of burning metal stung my nostrils. A car had wrapped itself around a silver guard rail, wailing ambulances rushing toward its crumpled frame. While watching the news later that night, I discovered that the very same accident I witnessed earlier was caused by someone texting and driving. Their irresponsibility caused all of that chaos and damage, completely disobeying the rules of healthy driving. To prevent catastrophic events like this, all drivers should install tools like Drive First, a free application available to Sprint users, or AT&T Drive Mode, a similar feature that locks phones until the driver comes to a safe stop. This effectively prevents the temptation of texting while driving, and is just one of many mindful driving habits that all drivers have access to. Also, in order to encourage safe and healthy driving, communities can invest in organizations that promote the elimination of drunk driving, such as SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions”, which focuses on safe driving habits among other student concerns. Through the influence of school events and campaigns to raise awareness, students understand the impact of their actions on the future and are able to use their voice to advocate for safe driving. By encouraging drivers to limit distractions at the source and to invest in activities that promote safe, mindful driving, communities empower drivers to take responsibility for their lives and those around them, effectively preventing collision-related deaths.

Sleep, and its impact on cognitive function and reaction time, plays a critical role in driver safety, and allowing for a healthy, consistent sleep schedule drastically improves the rate of car accidents and their consequent deaths. In a country where society constantly encourages people to make the most of their work and school days, sometimes at the expense of sleep, there is a significant risk for drowsy driving. In the absence of healthy sleep, the human body’s reaction time and cognitive function slows down dramatically, impacting the ability of drivers to react to distractions or possible threats on the road. Even with the extensive technology we have today, with backup cameras and alerts that light up when another vehicle gets close, drivers still need complete concentration on the road at all times. This especially matters at night and in the early morning, when the darkness obscures possible pedestrians or road hazards. Lack of sleep is common in high school and college students, who most likely are the newest drivers on the road. With a slower reaction time, drivers face the potentially fatal consequences of collisions. In fact, according to the CDC, drowsy driving has similar effects to driving while intoxicated. Drivers can confront the risks of drowsy driving by ensuring they get enough sleep each night. As the CDC observes, the ideal amount of sleep for adults 18-60 is 7 or more hours. Drivers can ensure they get enough rest by setting aside time to unwind and relax before bed, by eliminating the presence of electronic devices in the hours before sleep, and by avoiding alcohol or excessive caffeine. As a result, drivers can better avoid road hazards and communicate with other drivers effectively, ensuring their safe arrival at their destination. Safe driving can be accomplished by focusing on getting enough sleep each night, which increases reaction time and enables for better navigation around road hazards.

At the end of the day, driver safety impacts every aspect of modern life; it provides transportation to schools, workplaces, hospitals and other critical destinations, and it prevents an increase in the staggering numbers of car accident deaths across the country. Tackling the issue of improving driver safety is no small task, though, and effective drivers empower themselves to prioritize their safety in many ways. Education on driver safety greatly impacts the rate of collisions and can be promoted through mandatory classes in schools. Also, by avoiding destructive habits like texting while driving, and promoting healthy alternatives in the community, drivers decrease the risk of accidents and put safety first. Lastly, emphasizing sustainable sleep habits drastically improves reaction time, effectively preventing accidents. Through community education, healthy driving habits, and adequate sleep, drivers of all ages and experiences prioritize safety and do their part to mitigate the devastating numbers of driving-related deaths and accidents.