It’s 2:10, the bell rings, and the mob of students rushes towards the exits. Seniors, the old pros at the art of escaping to the student parking lot, are followed by the Juniors, new to the rush. They share the same goal: get to the cars and speed away before traffic backs up behind a stream of yellow buses. In far too many cases, the rush to exit the parking lot leads to close calls and the sudden use of breaks. While speeding to the exits, I see other students on their phones, choosing music or replying to texts they couldn’t see in class. Unknown to them, their actions can change more lives than their own in a second.
If only these students knew the catastrophes that happen within the time it takes to answer that text. According to the United States Department of Transportation, distracted driving claimed 2,841 lives in 2018, and it is estimated that another 400,000 individuals were injured due to a distracted driving crash. As we become more reliant on the technology that rests in our pockets, the more temptation there is to use it while driving. If those drivers hadn’t been swayed by the pull of their phones, or if they were better educated in the consequences of distracted driving, those crashes may have been avoided.
As drivers, we make the decision to control these speed machines. Just as any decision in life -- the choice of college, choice in workplace, choice in friends, even the choice in what to eat for dinner -- it is absolutely necessary to be educated in our decisions. Educating individuals about the dangers of distracted driving, the dangers of driving under the influence, and safe driving practices will help to ensure that all drivers are educated when behind the wheel.
I remember one year my high school invited a speaker who was a victim of distracted driving - and how their world was turned upside-down because of the driver’s five-second lapse in concentration. As the speaker rolled through a series of pictures of the car, totaled beyond repair, not a single noise was heard in the auditorium. All eight hundred students were silent, jaws dropped to the floor. Not only were we listening to someone speak to us about the consequences of distracted driving but we stared at the consequences. We listened to the pain in the speaker’s voice as he recounted his trauma.
I believe that listening to survivors is the way to enact change. Survivors’ stories put a context to statistics, transforming numbers into concrete events. When people are exposed to these stories, they are forced to be critical of their own driving behavior. Forced to question their own driving practices. First-hand education, I believe, is necessary in order to raise awareness and change for safe driving practices. Hopefully, the spread first-hand knowledge will help to create safer roads for all.