Can you remember the first time you were legally able to get behind the wheel of a car, the first time you heard the word “congratulation you’ve passed” after your driver’s exam and immediately the feeling of holding your very own license in your hands. The rush you must’ve felt, the sense of accomplishment and the responsibility that came along with it. For many around the world, including myself, this is a familial feeling that in many cases words cannot describe. However, what happens when those feelings are traded in for feelings of fear, hopelessness and disappointment because of distracted driving. Defined as an activity that diverts attention from driving, distracted driving can be broken up into three categories manual distraction, visual distraction and cognitive distraction.
Manual distraction involves the driver taking one or both hands off the wheel to perform tasks such as eating, smoking, rummaging through personal belongings or adjusting knobs in the car. This type of distraction can be dangerous because it leaves the driver unable to steer with proper reaction time. Visual distractions are the ones that is associated most with distracted driving as it causes your eyes to wonder off the road primarily because of texting (which is the most alarming distraction) which according to the CDC is takes about 5 seconds to read/send a text and at about 55mph this is like driving the full length of a football field with your eyes closed. Other visual factors also include looking at your GPS, grooming and attending to other electronic devices in the car. Finally, we have cognitive distractions which are the less straightforward of the three, but it can be simply explained as a distraction that causes the driver’s mind to drift away/wonder. This could be because of daydreaming, listening to music/podcast, or talking with other passengers. Studies have shown that hands-free devices which are used to make phone calls is no safer than handheld devices. As a matter of fact, the National Safety Council (NSC) contends that drivers can miss 50% of what they are seeing around the outside of the windshield if they are talking on hands-free device.
For me and my family on four separate occasion manual & cognitive distraction proved to be that life-changing event that seemed to haunt us relentlessly on the island of Abaco in The Bahamas. The first incident occurred in December 2012, on their way home from work, two of my cousins Kanisha Rolle and Shaniqua McIntosh lost their lives due to a reckless driver who was driving under the influence but also above the speed limit. According to eyewitness and police reports the driver was driving recklessly (speed was a factor) when he crossed into the on coming traffic lane, my cousin (Kanisha) tried to swerve out of the way, but she lost control of the car. She died on impact once the car flipped, my other cousin Shaniqua later died when she arrived at the local clinic both were mothers who were in their early 20’s with their whole lives ahead of them. Not surprisingly the driver responsible sustained no injuries and served no jail time as well as being a minor. The second incident involved one of my baby bother’s that was involved in a car crash in the fall of 2016 (again speed was a factor) luckily, he survived but was in the hospital for a month for recovery. The third incident again involved another one of my cousin’s and her two best friends in 2018. They were involved in a car crash where alcohol was a factor and unfortunately it led to the deaths of these 3 young ladies. The last incident occurred earlier this year when the youngest of my two brothers was involved in a hit and run. He was traveling home on his motorcycle when the driver ran the red light, hitting his back tire which caused him to fly several feet in the air and hit his head upon landing. Luckily, he survived and was only left with a few bruises and a concussion, he’s doing much better now.
Other than the relation between family members, in all four of these accidents we see how distracted driving played a crucial factor in the production and outcomes of these incidents. Whether driving recklessly, driving under the influence, speeding or simply not paying attention to your surrounding distracted driving has proven to be a major factor in most if not all traffic fatalities that occur. As a matter of fact, NHSTA (who leads the national effort to save lives by preventing distracted driving) who reported that in 2022, 3308 lives were claimed due to drivers not being fully attentive to the road, I can only imagine what this number would be in The Bahamas as it seems that there’s a at least one traffic fatality every week.
About 3years ago when I moved to Georgia I learned out about the Georgia’s “Hands-Free Georgia Act” which prohibits holding/supporting devices, writing/sending/reading text messages, watching/reading videos and using a device to start/end a call while driving. It was reported that in 2017, 82 people died in distracted driving but that number dropped to 43 in 2019, which was 3.4% in the year after the law was enacted. I think educating new drivers as well as experienced drivers on the importance of distracted driving is also something that would raise awareness. Especially for young drivers, making it a mandatory driving class they would have to take to pass the driver’s exam, or for those who are going to renew their license something that needs to be done to renew their license. This along with billboards that really show the harm that distracted driving can cause plays an important role in getting the numbers down.
For new drivers the driving experience can be an overwhelming one that can be filled with joy and anxiety. This is why I believe that classes that focus solely on distracted driving can help them better navigate these bad behaviors while’s driving.