Young driver safety, especially teen driver safety, is a large, public issue. However, Driver’s Education addresses said dangers by giving classes and going over many things that may go wrong while a young driver is on the road.
The challenges teen drivers face today are, in a way, different from the challenges teen drivers faced twenty years ago. Now, we have mobile phones that seem to become more and more distracting as years go by. With the development and further evolution of social media like Tik Tok, Instagram, and X, it is getting more difficult for teens to disconnect and pay attention to their surroundings which certainly does not stop in the classroom nor when they are at home, but while they are on the road.
Distractions may not always come directly from their own phones, they may come by turning up the radio, they may also come from friends whom they have as passengers. A friend may find a funny video or picture and want to show the driver who may take their eyes off of the road, even if for a brief moment. Even by taking their eyes off of the road for three seconds to look at what is on their phone or someone else’s, they have already traveled fifty yards by going at a speed of thirty-five miles per hour.
Other distractions may come from things on the side of the road, people walking, people biking, debris, or even a cow in a field they are passing by. Distractions do not always have to be in the car, they are all around on the outside.
A personal experience of mine, as a passenger, is seeing someone pull out their phone while driving and send a text message, even if it means using the voice–to–type feature, they still took their eyes off of the road to read the text and then send it. I then suggested that I read their texts for them while they drove and responded with what they wanted me to say.
Another experience I had, while driving to school one morning, was at a stop sign. I stopped fully and then started driving again when a car blew a stop sign. I had been quick enough to slam on my brakes. Before they had fully passed me, I noticed that they had their cell phone in their hand and were holding it up, like they were looking at it. I realized that if I had been moving sooner, they would have hit me.
As a teen driver, I am aware of the dangers and often put my phone in my purse and put it in the back seat of my car. Other times, if I am driving with my friend as a passenger, I ask them to text for me or I ask them to change the song that is playing so I can continue to focus on the road and keep them, along with myself and everyone else on the road around me, safe.
I think driver’s ed should be brought back into schools and to make sure that the dangers of distracted driving are emphasized with tests, educational videos, and reading material. Young drivers should learn to disconnect from their phones while driving and find a secure place to put their phone until they park the car, whether they put it in a glovebox, a back pocket, in their bag, or in the back seat. Never keep it in reach or there may be temptations to send that one “quick” text that may result in an accident and the death of them or another individual.
Communities create billboards about distracted driving and, while the intention is good, it can be very distracting for young drivers. It takes three to five seconds for the mind to register something advertised on a billboard. On the highway, driving at sixty-five miles per hour, means that by taking your mind off of the road for those five seconds you have already driven the length of a football field and then some. Communities should focus on advertising such warnings on the radio where it is less of a distraction and so the young driver can keep their eyes on the road ahead of them.
If we continue to help young drivers better understand the rules of the road along with the dangers of distracted driving, we may see a decrease in accidents as time goes by. While it may seem important to send that last text while driving, by taking your eyes off of the road may cause it to actually be your last text. Be safe, be mindful, put both hands on the wheel, put your phone away, and keep your eyes on the road.