The
well known adage, "knowledge is power" is the most accurate
saying I have become acquainted with. I feel like I have power when I
have knowledge about what to do in certain driving situations. When I
took my driver's license test, I knew how to parallel park, how to
execute a three-point turn, and how to back in at an angle. Having
the proper education before driving a vehicle gave me power over
distractions on the road.



However,
sometimes knowledge comes with pain. A day of knowledge that I will
always remember will be the day that one of my family's friends
became a victim of a car accident. I was young, but I can still
remember hearing the news vividly. Ever since that terrible day, his
whole body has been paralyzed. Whenever we visit, it is so difficult
to look at the pictures of him before the accident. His life is
forever changed because of one moment. It breaks my heart to have
such a young life ruined by such a meaningless accident.




In
thinking about this, I put myself in the shoes of a distracted driver
and thought, what would make their view on driving safely change
dramatically? This is the plan I have come up with. It is called the
Think Three plan. It requires no tools or apps. Only yourself and
your thoughts.

Every
time you try to reach for your phone while you are operating a
vehicle, think of three individual things you will be giving up
forever if you crash. They can be major things like, "I won't
ever graduate high school," or "I won't ever be able to
work at my dream job." It can also be minor things like, "I
won't eat supper with my family tonight," or "I won't get
to see the sunrise tomorrow." After you have successfully
thought about your three special things, then see if you still want
to pick up your phone. By naming three special things you will lose
forever, you will see that even though most texts can be viewed
later, the road can't.



I
have personally tried my plan and found that it changed my
perspective completely while driving. I realized how much I have in
this life, how special my life is, and how quickly it could all be
lost for a meaningless text. If teenagers could implement the Think
Three Plan in their everyday travels, it can impact the way they view
their life and the life of all the others on the road. Think Three
will help them take a look at their life and realize how very much
they are worth and how very worthless a text is.