Getting a license to drive is one of the stepping stones for independence and entering adulthood. Being able to drive allows the teen mobility without a parent looking over his or her shoulder all of the time. Driving, however, adds a new twist, called RESPONSIBILITY, that is different than anything a teen has ever known. The new driver has to be responsible for safe driving and not to ‘wreck the car’. He or she also has to be responsible for the lives of others that may be riding in the car and they must take a degree of responsibility for the lives of other drivers on the road. It is not enough to just talk about being a responsible driver. If they do not understand the responsibility to themselves and others in the early stages of driving, they may disconnect and become a distracted driver; never fully understanding that they share the road with everyone and everyone’s life matters!
Distracted driving is not exclusive to teens, however, and adults are just as guilty of texting while driving, and just as poor at it as teenagers. Recent research studied the driving ability of 18-59 year-old drivers, while in a driving simulator. (1) It was discovered that 66% of all drivers crossed the center line into oncoming traffic or drove off the shoulder of the road while texting. It did not matter what gender or age they were. Also, those people who considered themselves ‘expert texters’ did not perform any better than anyone else.
When we allow ourselves to be distracted, in any manner when driving, our response time is impaired. A 2018 study (2) evaluated response times to urban railroad crossings for 28 people who were being allowed to text. At half of the railroad crossings, the drivers had to respond to warning signals that a train was approaching. They did not know which crossings would have warnings. It was found that because the drivers were not focusing on driving the vehicle, but rather texting, it doubled their response time to stop the vehicle. I think that most people would agree that the odds of surviving a train crash are not good.
These are only 2 studies, of many, that show our inability to safely drive while distracted. We make mistakes each day because we are human. Most mistakes are simple errors from not paying attention, or being surprised and unable to respond quickly. Most daily mistakes are not life-threatening and we can laugh and talk about it later. Texting and distracted driving, however, are not mistakes. They are intentional acts of selfishness, which may harm us or our neighbor on the road. We are all guilty and need to do better!
- Accid Anal Prev. 2015 Jan; 4: 145-9.
- Accid Anal Prev. 2018 Sept; 118:269-276.