Technology and Education

I have never been in a car accident while on my phone. I don’t have to look at my phone to type. I know how to drive and text safely. I’m a good driver. Those are all comments teenagers or adults would say when talking about texting and driving. An injury law firm states 1.6 million car accidents a year are caused by drivers distracted by phones. Whether you think you are a good driver or not, you can not predict what dangers other drivers, animals, or weather will bring to the roads. I believe two different things Drivers Education can do for young drivers are teach the importance of not texting and driving, along with making the required time for having an instructional permit one year.

Drivers’ Education’s purpose is to teach new drivers the rules of the road and how to stay safe behind the wheel. But being told to do something for your safety and doing it are two different things. Students never think when driving they have a chance of adding to car accident statistics. According to an AAA poll, 94% of teen drivers are aware of texting and driving dangers, 35% of those teens admit to ignoring the danger and text anyways. Driving teachers need to emphasize the statistics to students to make the situation more realistic. Make sure drivers know there will always be a high chance of you crashing if your phone is in your hand, no matter how good of a driver or texter they think they are. Most people relate to things best when it is personal. One way to educate teenagers about dangers is sharing other teens in their communities’ tragedies. Most communities have had incidents of teens dying in car accidents or getting heavily injured. Sharing these stories with teenagers and adults can help them understand accidents can happen to anyone. Once I started hearing about people I knew getting in car accidents it made me realize these tragedies don’t just happen to people on the news, it could happen to me too. Making sure teens know accidents can happen to anyone, including them, is important in motivating them to make the right decision.

Training drivers to set their phone out of reach before they start driving is a start to eliminating the temptation of looking at their phone. Technology is advancing rapidly in the auto industry as the years go on. There are multiple ways to drive safely with your eyes on the road while still controlling music or communicating with peers. Most cars, even older ones, have steering wheel controls that you can skip, pause, and change the volume, all while keeping your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. Newer cars and some older ones read text messages to you and give you the chance to respond with your voice. Some older cars don’t have this feature, but most phones have personal assistants users can activate with their voice like Siri or Bixbi. Most cars also have hands-free Bluetooth calling. Drivers can answer their phone with a button on the steering wheel and have conversations without taking their eyes off the road. These measures eliminate the need to use your phone while driving. I think making cars with these different features more affordable, especially for new drivers prone to texting and driving, would be beneficial for preventing accidents.

 If a driver is texting, they are three times more likely to collide into a tree, sign, or curb. When texting, your brain isn’t thinking about where it needs to turn the wheel, causing cars to swerve. By the time a driver looks up, most of the time, it is too late to stop an accident from happening. Drivers don’t notice they are off the road until they hear the crash of their car. Once again showing how important it is to look at the road while driving.

According to Wisconsin DMV statistics, 50,000 accidents are caused every year by icy, slushy, or snowy roads. Drivers Education rules in Wisconsin only require students to have an instructional permit for six months. In some cases, new drivers’ six month periods may not occur when there is snow on the ground. Those teens will be sent out on their own during the winter to learn how to drive on dangerous roads. To reduce the risk of new drivers being sent out on new conditions by themselves, instructional permits should be extended to a year instead of six months. Some states like North Carolina already require a year, but others like Wisconsin only require six months. By having your permit for a year and requiring a certain amount of driving hours in all weather, new drivers will have experience in any condition feeling more prepared for any situation. This will help reduce their risk of getting in a car accident or causing others to get in one. Even though all states don’t have snow during the winter, requiring driving hours in other weather conditions common for their states during different seasons is valuable.

The biggest step any person can take to make the roads safer is modeling safe driving skills for everyone around you. If you see a friend or family member texting, remind them of the dangers they are creating. Drivers never know what will appear on or around the road, making it extremely important that eyes are always observing their surroundings and they are prepared for any danger that might occur.