Safe Driving

Wind rushes past your red car, music plays on the radio, the trees flicker as you drive down the road at 60 miles an hour. You hear an all too familiar buzz, the sound of a notification on your phone. You pick up your phone to look at the notification and before you can react your car is veering off the road and rolling over into the ditch.

Checking that one notification can cause lifelong injuries or even have fatal consequences to yourself or others. As a technologically advanced society our world revolves around our phone and electronics. We rely on technology to communicate with one another so we prioritize checking notifications so we can coordinate. As teenagers we are especially guilty of being reliant on electronics. Naturally when we hear our phone buzz, we want to pick it up. According to Harvard university, when we complete a successful social interaction our brain releases Dopamine. Dopamine is a “reward” chemical which recognizes beneficial behavior and promotes us to repeat this behavior. We begin to chase the feeling of accomplishment and become addicted to our phones shown by the 72% of teens who practice digital messaging. When teens drive and receive a text message, they feel inclined to respond. The anticipation a person feels when they get a text message causes the frontal cortex of their brain to shut off and send emergency signals to the body. The prefrontal cortex regulates higher level of cognitive function which corresponds to the reduce brain activity associated with using a cell phone while driving by 37%. This means that by texting or reading text messages while driving you are 27 times more likely to crash than someone who is not. Some people may argue and say that not every time someone gets on their phone while driving they will crash; however, people who use their phone while driving are significantly more likely to get in a crash overtime.

Using a cell phone while driving instills bad habits. Teenagers addicted to their phones become accustomed to using their phone while driving to respond to text, change music, and even facetime others. Teenagers will begin to develop these acts into lifelong habits that will have dangerous consequences. Imagine driving down the road in 20 years while everyone is on their phone because teenagers transferred these early bad habits to their adult life. We have to stop these habits now before countless lives are lost to distracted driving. A simple solution, others along with myself could practice include turning on do not disturb before driving, turning the phone off entirely, or placing the phone out of reach such as in the backseat or glovebox. However, these actions require self-discipline in people, especially teens, to practice these safe driving habits every time they get behind the wheel. Apps can be downloaded to lock cell phone while the car is being driven and notify parents of every time the device is used. Teens or parents can also change the setting of their phone to send a message to someone every time they are driving that also allows for urgent messages to be sent through. However, the “urgency” of some messages could be overrated leading to more drastic actions being needed such as devices that could be installed into cars or phones to disables the driver’s phone while the car is in motion. Instructional classes could be required to warn people to the dangers of texting or using social media while driving. It is crucial people are educated on defensive driving and how to choose to make better decisions behind the wheel and reduce the risk of their actions. More cars could be programmed to read text aloud so the driver could respond and communicate without ever having to touch their cell phone. Additionally, teens can simply choose not to partake in reckless activities by letting others know they are driving and will not be able to respond, making a playlist so they do not have to use their phone to change songs, and turning off notifications for social media. Although I have never been involved in an accident multiple of my peers have been in accidents that have had sever even fatal consequences. It is awful to see anyone lose their life to something so preventable; actions must be taken to reduce this risk.

Distracted driving caused by the usage of technology while driving is one of the biggest issues facing teens. Fortunately, many actions can be taken to combat this poor choice and instill good habits. Teens with the help of parents and administrators could work to lower the cause of death due to distracted driving from 18% to as little as possible and save the lives of others and possibly their own.