Sara Fanta

The CDC classifies three types of distracted driving: visual, cognitive, and manual. *Buzz!* You look at your phone screen to see what sort of notification you got. Visual. You read the notification. Cognitive. You respond to the notification. Manual. Being distracted by a phone is one of the most dangerous ways to drive. Since I started the process of getting my license I have been warned time and time again by everyone from my teachers to my grandma to make sure I put my phone away while driving because it could cost me my life.
I never took these warnings seriously, though, and I assumed all those statistics about distracted driving that were constantly being hammered into my brain by drivers ed could never, and would never be me. About a year after I first got my driver's license I was lost on an unfamiliar road. My best friend is in my passenger seat, we move at a high speed. I look down to enter directions on my GPS app, when I hear “BRAKE!”. I hit the brakes immediately, but found myself centimeters away from the back of a pickup truck who had very suddenly stopped in front of me. I looked in my rearview and saw another car equally as close to the back of mine. My friend had definitely prevented a horrible crash that day, but he wasn’t the one driving.
It was my responsibility to keep myself and the other people on the road safe. I always assumed I would notice something like that and see the lights of the car braking in front of me, but there I was; I hadn’t seen it at all. I realized how distracted I was at that moment; so much so that even my peripheral vision failed to warn my brain of an inevitable crash. I wasn’t special. There was no reason why I couldn’t fall victim to the consequences of distracted driving like so many others.
Since that experience, I have implemented more precautions that limit my want for interaction on my phone while driving. I have started to choose my music before I drive, turn off my notification noises when driving, pull over when I’m lost and need directions, and listen to, not look at, my GPS. These are some very basic ways that can prevent people from being distracted by their phone, while also enjoying some of the basic features they’re used to. Educating drivers on these simple methods could help reduce distracted driving accidents. Small steps are easy to take and overtime can help save lives.
https://archive.cdc.gov/#/details?q=distracted%20driving&start=0&rows=10&url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-10-05-10.html