It’s
Friday afternoon, and school has just let out. All the students are
bolting towards the school parking lot. Every second of free time
that day was spent making plans for tonight. Who’s going to the big
concert that night, where to eat, and especially the big question:
Who’s driving? Oftentimes, its the person who just got their
license, trying to showcase to their friends that they can drive now
too. It doesn’t matter who drives as long as the party gets to
their destination safely.




On
the drive to the local McDonalds, one of the students (the driver)
picks up his three friends. Naturally, the music comes on, and
everyone starts joking around and laughing. The music reaches a
volume where people can hear it in the surrounding cars, even with
the windows up. The driver’s phone gets a text message, disrupting
the music briefly, but long enough for the driver to pick it up to
read it. Although he only looked at his phone for a couple seconds,
the oil tanker in front of him came to an abrupt stop, and those
couple seconds were needed to avoid the crash. And the explosion.




There
are multiple things wrong in this scenario. These kids shouldn’t
have been listening to music so loud, if at all, the driver shouldn’t
have picked up his phone, but instead had a friend check it if it was
really that important, and the driver, even though he had his
license, shouldn’t have been driving with his friends so soon.
Instead, the driver should have gone by himself a couple times, at
least for a full month, before getting other people outside of family
in the car.




Furthermore,
checking or fiddling with your phone, regardless of the smartest car
out there, should not be used. Your full and undivided attention
should be on the road and your whereabouts. If you got into a car
accident, you are not the only one who could hurt. Your reckless
driving could be the reason a little girl doesn’t live to see her
next birthday. You may be willing to risk your life, but are you
willing to take someone else’s with yours? Turn off your phone,
it’s better to be safe, than sorry.