I have been affected by impaired driving the last couple of years when people in my community were killed. Most recently a friend was killed by a drunk driver because she was too distracted to notice they were on the wrong side of the highway. Within the last two years, two others in neighboring schools were killed when they were distracted by their phones and rolled their vehicles. I am almost 19 and my experience with driving has been mostly in rural areas. Starting Texas Tech this fall will present a new set of challenges as I learn to navigate a big city and more traffic. As a result, I will need to use my phone to pull up maps and get driving directions more often while also making sure I am safe as well as those around me.
In self-reflecting, I realize there are some areas of my driving that need improvement. My phone has become an addiction that needs to be broken, like many other drivers around my age. I am too eager to see what each notification is whether I am driving or not. I also am frequently eating in the car, trying to hurry and get to and from school. I have noticed at times I am eating and driving, I have been unsafe and drifted out of my lane or came upon another vehicle too quickly before braking or changing lanes. Fortunately, I never been in a car accident, but there have been times that were too close for comfort because of my own behaviors or because of other distracted and unsafe drivers. This self-examination has prompted me to take steps to end these distracted driving behaviors as well as refreshing the driver education I received while learning to drive.
I have been visiting with my parents on ways to safely navigate driving alone and in a big city while reducing risk. There are some steps I believe that would make me a safer driver and others as well. Since we have a driving app, I am able to see how my braking, acceleration, speed, corning and phone distractions affect my driving. This allows me to analyze which areas I need to improve on and make the necessary corrections. I have also enabled the Driving Focus setting on my iPhone. Turning on Driving Focus silences my text messages and notifications while I am driving and allows to me to remain concentrated on the road ahead. On the rare occasion I do need to use my phone for calls only, I will utilize Siri to complete those tasks for me. This step will keep my eyes on the road and not on my phone. While using my phone for navigation, I am going to be sure I enter my destination before leaving and not while I am driving. If I miss my turn and get confused, I will pull over and gather myself before continuing on and correcting the mistake. I will also turn down or off any music I have while using my navigation to allow me to hear the voice prompts and traffic around me. To significantly reduce the amount of time I spend eating while driving, I have decided to leave early enough to school or work to allow myself time to sit in the parking lot and eat before driving. In the event that is not possible due to time constraints out of my control, I have made myself a basket of snacks to keep in my car that allows me to eat easily without distraction or can be taken into class. In utilizing all of these steps, I will significantly increase my safety and those around me.
I have seen first-hand the devastation that is caused by dangerous distracted driving habits. Not only does it put yourself in danger, but those around you. The consequences of distracted driving can be life long and never worth the risk! In starting with myself by increasing my driver education and self-analyzing, I can help reduce the number of deaths as a result of driving. If more drivers, not just youthful drivers, would be more proactive and practice defensive driving, we all could make a difference in the number of deaths related to driving. Thank you for your consideration in this scholarship as well as the opportunity to analyze areas I can improve myself.