Keep your eyes and your mind on the road

It’s your 16^th birthday, you’ve been waiting for this moment as long as you can remember. You’re leaving the DMV and your mom passes you the keys, you put on your seatbelt and realize all of the responsibility in your hands. As you begin driving you make every effort to be a safe driver. You’re following all of the rules you’ve spent the last couple of months learning, your using your blinkers, checking the rearview mirror, and you even have your phone in the backseat. Your favorite song comes on, and you look down to turn up the volume. Just like that you’ve veered off the road and are now sitting in a ditch upside down.

Driver education is imperative to reducing the number of deaths, but not only should the students be informed on the rules of the road they should also understand the effects of distracted driving. Distracted driving usually implies a cell phone, but a distraction is merely defined as “a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.” Anything that causes you to remove not only your eyes, but your full attention from the road is a distraction. In drivers Ed students are informed about driving under the influence, but distractions are not stressed as such a major killer. Distracted driving is a decision you make, but that doesn’t mean you’re the only one effected. In order to reduce catastrophes its important to put more emphasis the dangers and definition of distracted driving.

In December of 2019 I was involved in a car accident on Highway 59 Luckily there were no fatalities, but it was emotionally unsettling. It was late at night and there was a horse in the middle of the road. The driver had no option but to hit the house. The front of our car was totaled, and although I was in the back seat, I ended up with the review mirror in my lap. Although this crash was not a result of distracted driving it did make me more sensitive to reckless or distracted driving. There were many occasions where I would ask to be dropped off or let out immediately due to reckless driving. The accident made me a more aware driver realizing that even without distractions crashes occur, so distracted driving could result in much worse.

There are so many programs in place to encourage safe driving, but I think we need more initiatives. Start by not only encouraging safe driving but rewarding it. Insurance companies have began this process, but I think schools, towns, and restaurants should begin their own initiatives. On the other hand, I believe that car manufactures are already taking huge steps towards eliminating distractions. One of the most recent ones being the speed projection. By projecting the drivers speed onto the windshield it eliminates the need for glances onto the dash resulting in eyes off the road. These proactive process

As a teenager I understand the distractions and how hard it is to fight them. Some preventive measures that I take when I drive are leaving all of my sunglasses within close distant to prevent unnecessary reaching and looking. Along with that I also plan and arrange my songs before beginning my trip to prevent the need to find the skip button or having to scroll through my phone to find a song. Continuing to limit phone distractions I make a habit of texting my family and friends if I will be taking long trips, to encourage them to call rather than text me in case of an emergency. I also limit my drinking/eating to lights or traffic jams to allow myself to stay focused on the road and my surroundings. Alongside the preventive measures I have put in place for myself I have some for my friends as well. If I am sitting in the passenger seat I will always “play secretary” and inform them of the things happening on their phone. In my opinion this preventative measure is the most important. You feel your watch buzz or you hear your phone vibrate and that triggers your automatic reaction to check it. By giving them the instant gratification they are seeking it prevents them from taking matters into their own hands causing them to become a distracted driver.

Distracted driving can result in fatal accidents. Many kids my age tend to have the mentality that they are the exception or that “It will never happen to me”. It can and it will. If you believe you are the exception you will become the example. Be smart, always keep your eyes and your mind on the road.