It Can Wait: The Importance of Driving Safely for Young Drivers

Being in the passenger seat most of my teenage years, I never fully understood what it took my parents to drive safely each day; it just seemed so easy. I only started to grasp the sheer concentration that it took them once I started learning myself, and after I had driven over more than a few potholes.  After a while, I got the hang of it and found myself enjoying the ride itself, relishing in the humble smalltown activity around me. Most teenagers see driving as an opportunity to further their independence, to be on their own for once. Though it is a great privilege to have, it can be easily abused.

Almost everyday I see three or four of my peers cram into a tiny car, off to drive who knows where. Sometimes it’s even a behemoth of a truck. Either way, I fear what might happen to them on the road. As a teenager myself, I know the risks that come with newfound independence. It is a topic we’ve all had to deal with sometime in our lives; distracted driving.

We check our phones constantly, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. We carry them with us everywhere; to school, to work, even to bed. Most of those would be quite normal and safe things to do; except for behind the wheel. It may seem so innocent just to listen to a voicemail or to take a call, but taking your mind off of driving for just a second can have dire consequences.

Texting is extremely dangerous behind the wheel, as it takes your eyes off the road for a short but costly 5 seconds. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), texting while driving at 55 mph would be equivalent to driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed. In fact, 3,308 people were killed in 2022 alone in crashes involving distracted drivers.(https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving) 

Do Not Disturb is a simple solution to this problem.

While using your GPS to navigate, the setting will essentially block all notifications and you to keep your eyes on the road. This will only save your life, but also your wallet and license; handling your phone while driving is in fact illegal in every state save for Montana and for drivers under 21 in Missouri. You can be fined as much as $2,000 depending where you live; unfortunately, our state of South Carolina only demands as little as $25. If that price were to increase significantly, the number of accidents could go down in our state.

Despite all the blame that has been heaped upon texting, there is something that we all do that endangers us just as much, if not more; talking. 

According to a study in 2013, (¨The Prevalence of Distraction Among Passenger Vehicle Drivers: A Roadside Observational Approach¨)  a survey involving direct roadside observation  was conducted at several selected intersections.  Out of the 3,265 drivers observed, the frequency of distracted driving was 32.7%. The most common distracting behaviors were found to be interacting with another passenger (53.2%, where passengers were present), as well as  talking on the phone (31.4%) and texting/dialing (16.6%).

Another driving study conducted a few years prior by researchers (Goodwin, Foss, Margolis, & Waller, 2010) was analyzed by the NHTSA. It was found that in the variety of driving clips of newly licensed teens, a teenage driver was two and a half times more likely to take risks when driving with a peer (13.0%) compared to driving solo (5.7%)  The chance of distraction increases significantly with each additional passenger; when driving with multiple peers, the likelihood increased threefold (15.5%).  Knowing how heated a conversation can get, it’s best to stay quiet.

So keep your eyes on the road; secure your phone in a car mount on Do Not Disturb. Should you still offer your friends a ride? I wouldn’t recommend it, but sure.