Everyone knows the dangers of drunk driving. Every year, there are multiple campaigns imploring newly licensed teens to never drink and drive. However, this may be doing a disservice to that very same audience. In twelve years of public schooling, no one ever told me to never drive drowsy. Benefit of the doubt, they probably thought it was obvious. But seeing other zombie-eyed, bleary seniors clutching iced coffees as they sleepily lock their cars in the parking lot makes me not so sure. Driving education is extremely important because people need to be aware they are driving a six ton metal death machine and they should drive like it is. No one can truly know the depth of the insidiousness of this phenomenon because how can one tell if the driver was drowsy if their head is one with their steering wheel? What can be done to combat such an issue? In those campaigns about drunk driving, it can include the fact that if you’re drunk, there is an extremely delayed reaction time; if you are asleep, there is no reaction time. According to the Sleep Foundation, driving after being awake for 18 hours is the same as a BAC of .05; driving after being awake just another 6 hours means a BAC of .10 when the legal limit of .08. Freshly licensed adults and groups at risk need to be more aware of the danger. Moreover, pulling over in a legal area to take a nap or even not driving at all should be normalized and even encouraged.
I got my license in November of last year. I have never once driven drunk or drowsy. I keep my phone on silent and Do Not Disturb when I’m in the car. However, admittedly, there have been other ways that I have been distracted behind the wheel. I take my eyes off of the wheel to tune my radio or to skip a song if Bluetooth is on. Moreover, I look too forward and somewhat forget to look at the sides of my car. This is detrimental in times when I am on the highway and other cars changing lanes. Thirdly, if I am going somewhere unfamiliar, I turn on the GPS. The distracted driving comes in when I take my eyes off of the road to see my next turn or when to change lanes.
In regards to the music, I should just stop playing music in the car altogether. However, for the best of both worlds, before I leave my house, I could set up a queued list of music from my phone and listen to Bluetooth. This cuts out radio and the tuning issues. I would not have to skip songs or tune anything. Secondly, I have to be constantly vigilant and remind myself frequently to check the sides of my car. I could attach something attention grabbing on the side view mirror, like a strip of paint around the border of the mirror.