When you hear about car crashes, oftentimes the tragedy feels so distant as an outside observer. A tired truck driver making his 3rd 12 hour drive, crashing from being unable to keep his eyes open. A drunk driver slamming into a stop sign, unable to focus from the haziness of the alcohol’s effects. A motorcyclist hit by a distracted driver on their phone. It’s a tragedy that feels like something that could never happen to you or the people around you. 

That all changed in my 6th week of senior year in high school. Practically everyone had a car. Once the bell for 5th period rang, a third of our senior class would depart to the student parking lot. The same scene plays out every day: chattering is heard while hanging around cars, pointing at each other through windows as we all drive off, and letting music blast through our radios whether it be old or new cars. You’d hear stories about people hitting the curbs and laugh it off. But, beyond the school campus, you don’t know how other kids would drive: if they were texting and driving, or even drinking and driving. 

I remember the day I heard rumors circulating about a severe car crash involving 5 kids: 3 seniors and 2 juniors. My jaw dropped as I heard the details. All of the victims were hospitalized after going 100 miles per hour, slamming into a gate on the freeway. Injuries to the neck and head, possible head trauma, possible paralysis, and all were confined to the hospital for a few weeks or even months. The confirmation from my AP Psychology teacher, a trusted adult in my life, made this disaster feel even closer to home. Over the coming weeks, I saw one of the kids in a neck brace who had to be helped all the time by his girlfriend. It was frightening to think about possibly dying in a night with friends or ending up paralyzed for life from just one crash. And then beyond all the emotions, there is one question that always comes up. Why did this happen and how can this be avoided?

When you hear about impaired driving, oftentimes our brains jump to the most common examples: driving while intoxicated from drugs or alcohol. But, impaired driving boils down to being distracted or unfocused on only driving. This includes being on your phone call or texting, fatigue taking over, or even talking to people while driving. Multitasking is a common action in today’s world given the multitude of technology that is available to our every whim, including the built in bluetooth feature of vehicles that allow for phone calls beyond law enforcement contact. With people being so used to multitasking, some learn that they can do it without immediate consequence and continue to do so which can include calling or texting while driving. To avoid this, it would be helpful for driver manuals to give the statistics of how multitasking or focusing on doing many tasks can actually dramatically reduce our ability to focus up to 40% according to the American Psychological Association’s research on multitasking. Spreading awareness of the actual numbers of what multitasking costs us can incentivize drivers to avoid the urge to text as that single second of switching can cost you the time needed to escape a life or death situation due to a possible car crash.

In today’s world, and especially of the youth and young adults, connecting to others is often done through our phones in various social media apps. Texting each other allows us to connect with our loved ones, even when we’re miles away. However, this privilege can be abused by overuse of our phones in situations we shouldn’t: primarily, texting and driving. As more and more of the younger generations grow up and become drivers, more are at risk for texting and driving due to the daily incorporation of phones and devices. Beyond texting and driving, peer pressure and distractions in the car is part of the problem. The passengers of the accident were rumored to be encouraging risky driving, like speeding on the highway. The distractions and incitement led to poor choices of the driver, ending up in a terrible crash that affected everyone in the vehicle. Impaired driving also includes being distracted by those in the vehicle–something we should all avoid. 

Every time I enter a vehicle, passenger or driver, I always make sure to stay alert. As much as I like to zone out on drives, it’s good to always help your driver look out for blind spots when turning or backing out. Even when I’m with my friends, who usually are driving me, I don’t try to distract them from driving by being quiet when they’re navigating a possibly dangerous road and helping look out for any pedestrians or cars. My mom always made sure to ingrain into my brain that when you’re driving with someone else, you should be their second pair of eyes just in case. I take that advice with me every day and I’m thankful as I have been able to spot hazards that the driver hasn’t. Every day we wake up to face choices, and those choices should include watching out for ourselves and others to pursue the highest safety for all. In terms of navigating a world of dangerous vehicles, we can all do our part by staying vigilant while driving regardless if we’re a driver or a passenger.

All it takes is one bad decision to create an irrevocable chain of events that can affect you and the people around you. It’s irreparable to undo a lifetime of trauma or even the loss of a person’s life. However, with the help of teachings from driving programs and adults in the world, we can teach the future generation to be safer and better drivers. Not only is it the efforts of those who can teach, but it is the effort of ourselves to continue upholding safe driving through attentiveness while on the road. As drivers, we hold people’s lives and should drive with the intent of safety in mind. As passengers, our actions can affect the driver and thus we should do our best to be helpful instead of diverting our driver’s attention. We all have a part to play, and it starts with us.