Kaelani
Gamble

Distracted
Driving

At
around noon on a hot day last summer I was drawn away from my usual
Netflix marathon by the startling sound of metal colliding. Although
this sound was fairly concerning, my family and I were used to this
distinct noise. Living off a hard curve on a country road meant that
many cars ended up in the road ditches surrounding our house.
However, this fact did not prepare me for the scene that I was about
to see. As my father and I stepped out of the front door we were
taken back by this particular accident. There dangling from the
telephone pole was a car entirely suspended upside down. As the
driver crawled through the floor mat of the passenger side to escape,
we noticed that one of our massive boulders in the front yard had
been split in half and thrown at least 20 feet closer toward the
house.

After
calling the police and making sure the driver was taken care of, we
found out what caused the accident. The man driving the car was not
paying attention and he hit the curve in the road much harder than he
should have. The car started to veer to the right and the driver
overcorrected the vehicle, sending the car flying back to the left.
Next, he hit the boulder head on which sent his car into a vertical
spiral into our telephone pole. Even though this crash was horrific
to see, this was not an isolated event.

In
the five years that we lived in that house I witnessed upwards of 10
car accidents from the comfort of my bedroom window. One common
factor in all these crashes (that I am aware of) is that the drivers
were not focused on the act of driving. Whether the driver was under
the influence, on the cellphone, distracted by others in the car,
etc., all these accidents could have been avoided. If all drivers
were more involved in the active process of driving, there would be
much fewer accidents and fatalities due to motor vehicles.

All
these accidents taught me that losing focus for a few measly seconds
could put my life as well as other lives in danger. It is important
for drivers to learn the dangers of losing focus behind the wheel. In
order to reduce the number of car accidents it is crucial for drivers
to understand the possible consequences of their everyday actions.
Impactful steps toward safer driving are making sure your phone is
not easily accessible, never driving under the influence (or letting
others under the influence drive), always being active and aware of
your surroundings. Just these three simple steps will impact daily
driving habits and lead to fewer car accidents on a daily basis.
Before driving, always remember that checking your phone for a split
second or turning to talk to a friend could land you in the hospital
and you can’t ever get that time back.