Get off your ****ing phone!

Get off your ****ing phone!

By Shawna Swanson

March 31, 2021

Education is key! How can we expect change if we do not educate people first. Although this is relevant to all aspects of life I am talking particularly about safe driving. There are many factors to consider in drivers education particularly how to reduce deaths as a result of driving, these include mandatory drivers education classes in high schools, free driving lessons, and stronger penalties for accidents caused by distracted driving.

Driver’s education was not taught in my high school, and 20 years later is still not. This is appalling to me. Our government deems what is necessary for the youth of Canada to know before graduation, and still with accidents on the rise it is still not a priority to make our roads safe by implementing mandatory classes in school to learn about safe driving practices. Tefft states that “Drivers ages 16-17 continue to have the highest rates of crash involvement, injuries to themselves and others and deaths of others in crashes in which they are involved.” This simply is wrong, teens need to learn how to drive properly and in a formal setting such as a classroom. Ideas for lessons could be watching Canada’s Worst Driver, it has taught many the importance of proper drivers education. Why do we have to wait to be the “worst” to learn how to properly drive? Our government would end up saving billions in auto accident claims if they taught proper driving skills in schools instead of leaving it up to overworked untrained tired parents, or Andrew Younghusband on Canada’s Worst Driver!

If driving lessons were free, or at least a certain amount paid for by the government, there would be much more confident drivers and drastically less accidents in youth. When I was a teen my parents could not afford to put me, or any of my other four siblings into driving school or lessons. We were a low income family and 20 years ago it was $60 for a one hour lesson, now in 2021 parents pay an astronomical $90+ per hour. This fee is a huge roadblock to proper drivers education. If the government really wants to help decrease the amount of accidents in teen drivers they need to take away the financial burden of driving schools to the average family. I remember having major test anxiety over my New Driver test due to lack of proper education on driving skills and lack of hours practicing behind the wheel. My mom did her best, but living in the country with one vehicle and a big family time to “practice” was hard to find. I know she would have loved to put me in driving lessons, but it was a luxury we could not afford. The result was me failing the New Driver test not once but two times. I did pass the third time but my confidence was forever shaken. Free driving lessons could have avoided this.

Stronger penalties for distracted drivers must be enforced in order to make a lasting change in safe driving. In other words, get off your ****ing phone! We can post statistics on social media, and talk about it until we’re blue in the face, but if our government does not enforce the laws they’ve implemented, the rate of distracted driving will continue to increase. Distracted driving has dire consequences, here are some facts according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

• A person who texts and drives is six times as likely to have a crash than someone who drives drunk.

• It takes your brain up to 13 seconds to refocus on your surroundings after looking at your cell phone — even if you “only glanced at it for a second.” As your brain refocuses, your driving skills are not at their best.

• When you attempt to multitask while driving, your eye activity slows down and your problem-solving skills are diminished.

• Distracted driving was directly responsible for 23,000 deaths and well over a million injuries in the U.S. between 2012 and 2018.

The facts don’t lie, distracted driving kills! If there were stronger penalties such as license removal rather than just financial fines and penalty points perhaps the rate of distracted drivers would decrease, in fact you could count on it!

In conclusion, in order to reduce deaths as a result of driving, there must be mandatory drivers education classes in high schools, free driving lessons, and stronger penalties for accidents caused by distracted driving. Expecting change without education is insanity. Education is key and always remember get off you’re ****ing phone!