The story of my car crash starts with a cute boy in my psychology class. As with all love-struck teenage girls, I was terrified to talk to him in person and instead relied on eavesdropping on his conversations to learn more about him. I even had a document on my phone where I’d write down things I learned about him, as well as reasons to believe he liked me back. At one point, I heard him mention that he walks to school, so I started leaving a couple of minutes later every day so I could pass him as I was driving.
One Monday morning, I saw him walking to school up ahead, and as I passed him, I continued to watch him through the right side view mirror. I only took my eyes off the road for a second, but that was enough for me to slam into the car in front of me, which was breaking for the stoplight without my knowledge. My coffee spilled all over my dashboard and my backpack slid off the passenger seat. Of course, my crush saw the entire thing go down and was quick to tease me about it when I got to psychology class.
Although that was the only car accident I have personally experienced, it is just one in a long line of accidents that have impacted my family. My dad was eight years old when his father was hit and killed by a drunk driver, and the same thing happened to his stepfather when he was sixteen. My parents have always taught me not to drive under the influence and I grew up knowing that they would pick me up, no questions asked, if I called them from a party or friend’s house and could not drive.
I believe driver’s education is vital for creating responsible driving habits. However, it tends to go about it the wrong way. My driver’s ed experience consisted of countless videos of car crash survivors discussing their life-changing injuries from their crashes. Many of the survivors were permanently disfigured and were used only to scare young teenagers into driving safely. Not only is this insulting to the car crash survivors themselves, but this did nothing but convince me that I would inevitably get into a car crash, making driving safely less of a priority for me.
Instead, we should be implementing training programs to help increase the attention span of new drivers. A Cincinnati Children’s Hospital applied an attention span training program called FOCAL to new drivers using driver simulations. This program specifically targeted teenagers with ADHD and resulted in 40% fewer long glances away from the road after a month, and a lower car accident rate, compared to teenagers who did not participate in the experiment.
By implementing programs like these in driver’s ed programs across the country, we can condition teenagers to recognize the importance of road attention before they even get behind the wheel. Additionally, it adds an aspect of enjoyment to an otherwise tedious process. It teaches us that driving can be fun rather than something out of a horror movie.
Another way we can remind drivers to focus on driving is with road signs. 37 people die every day as a result of drunk drivers, and 80% of accidents are caused by distracted drivers. These distractions can include looking at something outside the car, texting, driving under the influence, eating or drinking, doing hair or makeup, or trying to reach something they dropped in the car. Many highways have signs reminding drivers not to drink and drive already, but increasing the frequency may go even further to prevent accidents.
New Jersey was recently ordered to take down signs promoting road attention by the Federal Highway Administration. These signs included messages such as, “Don’t cruise when boozed,” “Get your head out of your apps,” and “Hocus Pocus drive with focus.” The government’s primary concern with these signs was that not everyone would understand the pop culture references, but a study by the Virginia Transportation Research Council showed otherwise. The study used a brain-mapping helmet to measure the reactions of drivers as they showed messages on a screen. The study concluded that pop culture, humorous, and emotional messages led to the most brain activity. It is evident that leveraging pop culture and otherwise lighthearted topics can actually work wonders in promoting safe driving habits.
However humorous my driving mishap may be, it reflects a major obstacle in society, and one that is largely avoidable. By shifting our mindset around driver’s education and implementing measures to increase a driver’s attentiveness, we can foster a culture of conscientious driving and save thousands of lives.