Name: Chase Rudders
From: Peoria, Arizona
Votes: 3
Distracted driving is responsible for nearly half of all deaths on
the road. I feel like in this era we’re in technology has taken
over many aspects of our lives. Everyone is so worried about what
someone comments on their Instagram post or whether they should text
their buddy or not and its sad. Distracted driving is a major
epidemic and I don’t see it going away anytime soon. It comes in
many forms such as visual, audio, and stress. I first became aware of
distracted driving sophomore year when I took a drivers ed
class. I didn’t have my license yet, but the class informed me of
the significance of paying attention on the road. Its important to
realize that if you find yourself in a distracted state while driving
you aren’t the biggest danger its others are going to assume you
are paying attention. For example, someone cuts you off and you
happen to be on your phone with your mind somewhere far away. The
time it takes you to realize and adjust to the danger has
significantly increased and if you were paying attention you would
have a better chance of applying the breaks and safely slowing down.
I’m not saying it will never be your fault, but I found that its
easy to drive in a straight line and text. Its not so easy to adjust
to speed changes and preserve yourself at the same time. Which brings
me to my next point. In no way am I perfect when it comes to this.
Thank the maker I’ve never been in an accident, but I have been in
situations where I am distracted. I’ve found that my car may drift
slightly or I may be going slower than I should be but the closest
call I ever had was someone coming close to coming in contact with
me. The point I’m trying to make with this is teens think they know
it all and they can do almost anything. The problem is others making
tiny mistakes or just making a aggressive move on the road. Talking
and texting while driving cause over 300,000 injuries every year.
When I first started driving my parents notified me of this danger. I
being a reckless teen took her words in one ear and out the other.
Once I told my mother the story of the close call, she appreciated I
was honest with her but was not willing for me to drive again without
safety precautions. My mom downloaded Life 360 on my phone to track
my location and my driving report and in doing so she made my phone
unable to be accessed while in the car. To this day I don’t text
and drive anymore. I can’t say I’m perfectly distraction free
because that is nearly unobtainable with daily stressors and other
people in the car. The biggest distraction that took my eyes off the
road was eliminated with her plan though. The era of smart phones has
made civilization grow immensely but distracted us and harmed us. In
2018 my grandma was in a horrific car accident Sam Manke was on the
road driving and was hit by a distracted driver. Her car was hit on
the right tail end and it caused her car to spin and flip. Her head
some how managed to go outside the window and made brutal contact
with the ground. By the time I saw her in the hospital a large
portion of her head was scalped and she was fighting for her life. In
the moment I didn’t know if id ever see her again. She somehow
survived and recovered. She battled tremors in her right arm and
needed to go to physical therapy. Though she has come a long way
