Keep it Real: 

Real people are affected by your actions

 

When I think of a driver who is impaired, I think of someone who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  Drunk driving is the first thing that pops into my head. This is primarily because of all the ad campaigns and drivers’ education videos that we have been exposed to. Though this is one form of impaired driving, there are many others that exist. It is important to know that many accidents also happen because of distracted driving such as adjusting a radio station and eating or drinking food while driving. The different between impaired and distracted driving is that when a driver is impaired, they are unable to perform tasks easily while driving due to cognitive decline making them a threat on the road. Being distracted also limits ability to perform tasks easily, but it is due to a loss of fucus. 

 

I had never considered texting to be an “impairment” in addition to a distraction. Texting does not limit your cognitive ability for a long period of time like being drunk does, it takes you away from the important task of driving and then when you are finished you can continue driving as normal. being on your phone does in fact limit your decision-making skills long enough to be life threatening to the driver as well as others on the road.  With that said, I feel phone use while driving is one of the most dangerous things a driver can do. All drivers of all ages can legally own a phone.  It is the easy accessibility of a phone while driving that makes driving safely hard to enforce. 

 

When the new law came into effect that makes it a ticket able offence to hold or use a hand-held electronic device while driving, I was curious on what if any improvement it would have on accidents. The first day the law went into effect, my mom was driving in our town. She was holding her phone in her hand because she had just caught it from falling out of her car phone mount. The phone was not on, but she was still pulled over by a police officer and given a warning. I remember my mom being so upset. She was talking to my dad and saying “there is no difference between me holding a phone that is not in use and me holding a coffee. Actually, there is the coffee is more of a distraction because drinking it takes my focus off the road for a second but it’s legal to hold the coffee”. She was saying this out of frustration, but it got me thinking, a law is a law. Police are to enforce any law put into effect. They see a cell phone in my hand they have to assume that it is in use. The rule itself makes sense to me. It gives people a consequence and helps to advert temptation of scrolling, texting, or calling people because they do not want the consequence of getting a hefty ticket fine. 

 

Driver’s education already does a good job of talking about impairments and distractions. We watch the videos about why we should avoid such things, but I think it would be more impactful if they had guest speakers come in. Because my generation is a screen generation, we are almost numb to what we watch. I think that it is important that driver’s education make it more personable. Being able to actually see and talk with people makes things more real. It would be more impactful to have a video of a scenario and then have someone who was actually exposed to that scenario come in and talk about what the results were.  For example, have someone who was under the influence while driving come to the class and talk about the consequences of their poor decision to drive. It would also be good to hear from different perspectives. We as a society have gotten greedy and it is hard to consider others.  If a family member who lost a loved one or a person who had a life changing injury due to another driver being distracted or impaired came in to talk, it would force us to think of our consequences affecting other and would also be more meaningful. The ability to keep it real by being able ask questions and make the class more interactive would also be beneficial.  

 

As a young driver, it is important that I not give into peer pressure and that I continue to follow the driving laws about impaired and distracted driving so that I will continue to be safe. It’s also essential for me to be aware of my surroundings. Be alert, if the vehicles near me are swerving, slow down to avoid them. I also feel it is important to have real conversations with friends about impaired and distracted driving. Talk about people you know who have been impacted by impaired and distracted driving. Real conversation brings realization that it could happen to you. When it comes to making poor decisions, my friends know, if they are ever in a situation that they do not feel safe to drive, they can call me. I would be more upset that they got in the car to drive than I would that they made a poor decision to drink underage. 

 

Overall impaired driving continues to be a big problem in America, until we can make it personable, people will think that they are invincible and it will never happen to them. The more real conversations we can have with people about impaired and distracted driving the more aware we become that it is a problem that impacts more than just the driver. The commercial I think that makes a big impact is the cell phone one I have seen lately. Its 2 cars driving and a young driver gets on her phone.  The two cars stop and both drivers step out and have a monologue about the situation that is about to unfold. One talks about her family who is also in the car and how important it is that the other driver put the phone down. The other defends her choice to pick up the phone. They both get back into their cars, and the scene ends with a crash. It's things like this that show real people in real situations that remind you of the impact one bad decision can have.