While being a teenage driver myself, I learned that driving comes with responsibility
and focus.
As of now, teen drivers are most likely to cause a car crash or avoid following the rules and regulations of attentive driving. This is because of having easy access to phones, careless minds, and social media.
Phones are like drugs to teenagers: addictive and must have it at all times. As a teen driver, I used as many methods as I could to be a safe driver and avoid dangerous driving habits involving my phone or any sort of technology.
The first one is making sure that I’ve picked the right playlist, opened up maps
and put the directions to my location, and answered all text messages or calls I might’ve missed right before I start driving. I’ve seen many people on the road swerve or almost hit a car because they wanted to text someone back or pick up their phone for any reason. This causes distractions which could be hazardous while conducting a vehicle.
The second one is avoiding listening to music while driving. I love to listen to music whenever I can since it makes me concentrate in what I’m doing, but my life is worth more than some tunes, so I stopped listening to music while driving. It was pretty dangerous since I had to connect my phone to my car through bluetooth and if I didn’t like a song and wanted to skip it, I would have to pick up my phone to change it. It was such a distraction that when I looked up after changing a song, I would brake super close to a car which could’ve potentially caused an accident if I didn’t react fast enough. As much as I love listening to The Marias or Kali Uchis while taking a trip on the road, listening to my favorites while driving has been a no for me and my safety.
The third method I used is parking/ stopping somewhere if I need to send a
message or call someone back. This taught me responsibility and safety precautions to have a smooth drive. I didn’t really use this method a lot since I realized that getting a notification is still a distraction for me which brings me to my third point which was putting my phone on Do Not Disturb. This method didn’t really work for me since I was always tempted to grab my phone while driving, stopping at a red light or in traffic which can also be a safety hazard.
The method that helped me the most in focusing on the road and practicing safety precautions is putting my phone on Do Not Disturb and placing it in the back seat.
The last method I’ve used to practice safe driving away from social media is
to use a self-lock app that locks your phone while you’re driving. Now, this method might seem a bit extreme, but it was the most beneficial and helpful one yet. The app completely locks your phone, so you won’t get any notifications, calls, or the ability to listen to music which is so advantageous, especially for teen drivers who are beginning to drive. Keep in mind that this method completely secures your phone from any buzzes and rings, so you won’t know if there’s an emergency or if something happened and you need to react quickly, which is a potential disadvantage. Overall, this was the method that helped me have a better driving experience and keeps my phone addiction out of the way for when I’m in control of a vehicle.
Safe driving is important for everyone, not just yourself. Many lives are lost
everyday due to careless driving and most crashes are caused by texting and driving. These are just methods that worked for me. There’s other methods like having your passenger do the texting for you or hiding your phone out of your sight or just simply keeping your phone out of reach like placing it in your trunk. Practicing these tips could potentially save many lives and set an example for many careless drivers who don’t think about the importance of driving safely. It’s not about how good of a driver you are, it’s about the five seconds you take your eyes off the road. Don’t risk it. Remember, your life is more important than your device, a text from your friend, the next episode, a DM from your crush, or a new album. You can get millions of notifications, but you only have one life.