Distracted Driving Essay

Distracted
driving is very common in today’s society and is a leading cause of
car accident injuries and deaths. To me, that is the issue we need to
be informed on most when we come to the course on accidents and
fatalities inDrivers ed. Distracted driving can range from
drunk driving to texting and driving, but either way, people are hurt
by distracted driving everyday. I know there are laws that try to
protect us, but too often people directly disobey them. “There were
about 1,600,000 texting and driving related accidents in 2018.”,
says the National Safety Council of the United States.That greatly
concerns me. I am very passionate about stopping it because I know
the degree of pain caused by it, but most people haven’t taken the
time to realize how reckless they are by actively scrolling on their
phone at the wheel. I want to specifically focus on the area of
texting and driving because it has now become even more prevalent
than drunk driving. I believe that Drivers Ed courses can
seriously impact the way people view distracted driving, which is a
cause of so many fatalities, because people can be tested on their
knowledge of safe driving.

Driver’s
Education can positively impact the way teens view driving because in
order to get their licenses, they have to complete the course.
Teenagers love their freedom, and a lot of their freedom comes from
having the ability to drive. In order to achieve the ability to
drive, they have to pass drivers ed, which will inform them on how
to be a safe driver. I think that distracted driving is the number
one cause of fatal accidents, and the courses we take to get our
licenses can be jam packed full of information regarding fatality
rates and the seriousness of distracted driving. People will be
forced to see the horrific details of distracted driving accidents,
and will naturally be more prone to take it seriously. Facts open up
people’s eyes, and where better to do that than a mandatory class
that everyone who wants to drive has to take!

I
have never been in a major accident, but rather multiple fender
benders that have resulted from distracted driving. Not all were
texting and driving, but all were because of some form of reckless
driving. Because I’ve been in so many small collisions, I know that
if my family members continue their bad habits, it is just a matter
of time before there is a life changing accident. Everytime I get in
the car with someone, I now offer to text, call, or change music for
them because I know how dangerous that can be. If the music is too
loud I will politely ask them to turn it down or off. I always
advocate that they need to be fully aware of the roadways because
anything can change in an instant. I learned that from Drivers Ed!
We have to be ready for everything, and we can’t do that with a
phone in one of our hands and the music blaring. With my siblings,
the biggest problem is texting and driving. Even though I explain to
them the dangers, they don’t listen. I decided to take matters into
my own hands by thinking of possible solutions to this problem.

By
having a phone mount in your car, you can’t pick up your phone
while driving! I thought if I partnered with a car phone mount
producer in my area, we could sell car mounts for people that don’t
want to spend a lot of money, by charging them a mere one dollar.
That way I can do my part in stopping or limiting distracted driving.
I would also post ads around schools in my area, and the reason why
we are selling them at a low cost, so we can advocate against texting
and driving for teenagers. I would like to target them specifically
because I think they are shielded from the dangers of texting and
driving, and I would like to open their eyes to the truth. Not
because I want to scare them, but because I believe they would go on
to tell their friends and parents to get off their phone while they
are driving and be an agent of change. I think that usually people
don’t buy phone mounts because they don’t want to spend $5+ on
it. They often don’t have that to spend! If it cost less they would
be more compelled to buy it, and if it came with a pamphlet of facts
so as to inform them about the dangers of distracted driving, they
would be less likely to take part in it. That is just one of the ways
I would like to play a part in stopping the roadway injuries in my
community.

I
am very passionate about keeping the roads safe because I have
researched the dangers of distracted driving, and I couldn’t bear
to lose a loved one like so many people already have. I know I can
play a huge role in stopping texting and driving, and I can start
right here in my own community!