The Dangers of Distracted Driving

I
was running late to work last summer, and I asked my mom for a ride.
I work in a jewelry store that’s only a fifteen minute walk from my
house, so I usually don’t drive, but I was really pressed for time.
My mom drove the speed limit, stopped where she was supposed to, and
was especially careful because it was raining. We reached a four-way
intersection where we had the right of way, but a woman completely
blew a stop sign and drove straight into our car on the passenger
side. It was shocking, and I felt like my heart had stopped for a
moment. I wasn’t able to fully process what had happened until I
saw that every other car in the intersection had stopped. Thankfully
both my mom and I were okay, but our car was completely mangled in
the front due to this woman’s reckless behavior. She was texting
while driving, and distracted driving is one of the leading causes of
collisions today. If more drivers could learn to put down their
phones, this would not be an issue. Some of my friends don’t think
it’s a big deal, but a couple times I’ve caught them texting
while I’m in the car. Many people are now understanding the dangers
of texting while driving because it’s a visual stimulus that takes
your eyes off of the road. However, many people don’t realize how
talking on the phone, loud music, or having friends in the car can
impair your driving abilities. It’s easy to get wrapped up in a
conversation, or jam out to the radio, and either one can make you
turn to autopilot because any sort of unnecessary sensory input makes
your mind function in a different way. I’ll admit, I’ve been
guilty of driving home late after orchestra rehearsals and not
remembering how I got home. This has made me realize just how easy it
is to lose focus. Everyone can improve their own habits just by
taking a couple moments before starting the car. To ensure that
phones don’t play a part in the equation, everyone can turn them
off or on silent, so you won’t be tempted to look at the
notification. If you need to take a call, many cars have a hands free
option. If not, it’s easy to pull over for a moment if it’s
really pressing. Through my drivers ed program, I learned
so much about awareness and safety procedures. To reach more students
and adults, it would be great to see in the future more driver’s
education programs that are either free through public schools or are
much less expensive to make resources more accessible to more people.
According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel,
roughly 1.25 million people die in road crashes every year. During
this global crisis, people can take the time to educate themselves
about different ways to protect themselves when they are going to go
back out to travel again.