Screech, beep, bam, and then darkness. We all know that distracted driving is dangerous, but how much do you actually know? Distracted driving is defined as "the practice of driving a motor vehicle while engaged in another activity..." However, as I recently found out, driving while distracted is more common than you think, and can be extremely dangerous.
1. Distracted driving kills
Every year in the United States, approximately 420,000 people are injured due to distracted driving incidents, and 37,000 or more die from these accidents. Over 60 percent of these accidents involve the use of cell phone by the driver, and can effect more than that person. Over 1,500 kids and young teenagers die every year from being in a vehicle with a texting driver. Texting is not always the cause of driving accidents, but is one of the most dangerous habits a driver can have.
2. Put down the phone, food, and makeup
If you were to survey 100 people about different daily distractions in the car, you'd be shocked at the results. Around 50 percent of people would admit to eating or drinking while driving, 60 percent would admit the radio distracts them, and numerous others would rattle off excuses of putting on makeup, smoking, and being distracted by other passengers. It takes only two seconds to lose focus on the road, and by going 55 miles per hour and looking away for about 5 seconds (about the time needed to sing the first line of Mary Had a Little Lamb) you can travel the length of a full football field.
3. Look at the road
In my case, it took only three or four seconds to go from driving down the road to starting to roll my truck in the ditch. I didn't have a phone in my hand, nor was I playing with the radio. No, I turned my head long enough to open the window and next thing I knew I was sideways in the ditch going 57 miles per hour. Even the smallest and simplest of things can cause disaster. The most important part of driving is watching the road, not the pretty landscape or dog tied up 200 feet from the road. The phone can wait, the makeup can wait, but the road and your vehicle can't.
4. You're not too cool for a seatbelt
Seatbelts are lifesavers. In a study performed in 2012, almost 60 percent of teens that died in car accidents were not wearing a seatbelt. If worn correctly, seatbelts can actually cut back on crash fatality rates by 50 percent, yet millions of people still don't wear them. In my case, without a seatbelt I would've died in my accident. In the case of a serious accident, bruises from the belt are a lot more attractive than broken bones or dying.
5. Distracted driving hurts everyone
You may think to yourself while driving that you absolutely need to text your boyfriend back or tweet something that you saw on your drive, but trust me, it can wait. Just imagine your mother's terrified screams when she finds you pinned to your seat in a flattened car or your father's tears when he sees you taken away by helicopter to the hospital on a backboard. Imagine the looks on the faces of people trying to save you, praying you don't die, and the people blowing up yours and your parent's phones crying, asking if you made it. Distracted driving hurts everyone, so whatever you think is more important than focusing on driving isn't. Trust me, it can wait.
