I press down slightly on the pedal as I vroom through the final stretch of road in my neighborhood. This is my favorite part because on my left, a pack of jersey cows are usually out grazing. It’s bright, and the sunlight makes their brown coats majestic. I watch as I pass by, and then I turn my head to keep watching—
Or I’m on Raleigh Lagrange, listening to a PBS documentary and paying attention to the GPS. When suddenly its robotic voice raises with a “Stay in the left two lanes,” overpowering the documentary’s commentary. I merge into the lane on my left, but then immediately grab my phone and attempt to swipe out of the GPS app. There are cars on my right and left but I’m not focused on the road.
Or I’m slightly overheating and driving at the same time, so I’m fiddling with the air conditioning knob and the temperature. Or I’m reaching for a drink, leaning over the center console. Or trying to pick up the phone or wallet that’s conveniently slipped off my seat.
While I’ve only been driving for around 2 years, I’ve learned quite a few lessons when thinking about my past (and sometimes recent) driving mishaps. Though I had initially treated these habits as one-and-done simple things, I now realize the enormous harm they perpetuate. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving claimed 3,275 lives in 2023. Not wanting to find myself on the other side (or underside) of that road, I’ve decided to plan to eliminate my own distracted driving habits.
1) I have put a compromise in place for the jersey cows and any other strange or sweet thing I might encounter on the road. Unfortunately, there’s the ever-present roadkill and plastics. There’s also the occasional wild deer or squirrel I’ll just want to stare at. But from now on, I’ll be satisfied with the one look I do get. No turning my head. Hopefully this will prevent roadkill accidents in the future, as a bonus.
2) Similarly, if I want to listen to documentaries on the road, I have to deal with the fact I’ll miss little bits. But losing a second of talking is less dangerous than a potentially fatal crash. I realized also that I’ve definitely fiddled with my phone’s music while traveling at a dangerous speed, eyes off the road. According to the CDC, looking away for just 5 seconds at 55 mph means you’re driving a whole football field blind. That fact kind of terrified me. So now, I’ve vowed to always set a playlist before shifting to drive. It’s also been working a lot better than trusting YouTube to curate a mix to my liking. With so many options on a phone now, I realize that teens like me can be easily distracted by the multitude of functions and choices. So, recently I’ve also been sure to switch on Focus Mode or Driving Mode so I don’t get tempting texts.
3) For the other tempting things such as a sip, I now will make sure to wait for a red light. I know from experience that taking a small drink can still take your eyes off the road, and that leaning down to pick up something can become quite the hunt instead of a two-second task. I’ve learned now that even something seemingly harmless such as this is more dangerous than I think. As a passenger, I’m responsible for making sure I don’t distract the driver, and to alert them if necessary.
I believe that many of these distracted driving habits can and should be taught to be avoided early on. Teen distracted driving is a severe public issue that impacts entire communities. Everyone, from parents to schools and teachers to driver’s ed classes to teens ourselves, can play a part to combat this.
Firstly, parents should model a focused and cautious driver always. Schools can promote driver’s ed classes—and in turn driver’s ed should fully engage students in conversations about risky behavior, point out these habits from the start, and make sure that teens know they can ask any questions. While the DMV knowledge test can be treated as a simple memorization exam to be tossed away later, driver’s education classes can greatly benefit teens by demonstrating the road skills in real life. And because peer pressure is a particularly dangerous machine, I also believe teens ourselves should call out distracted driving habits and share tips.
Although teens are disadvantaged in driving due to inexperience and impulsivity, there are steps we can take away from the statistic of 15-20 year olds having the highest probability of fatal crashes.
Safe travels!