A Student's View on Distracted Driving

Students of First Route Driving School are required to write out their thoughts, essay style on driving-related issues. W.C. Burgess Insurance is proud to present the second of a two-part series from a young driver and his views on impaired and distracted driving.

Jonathan's Essay on Distracted Driving

"Distracted driving is currently a very common problem and is a regular cause of accidents especially for young drivers and/or new drivers. The leading cause of distracted driving in this spectrum is actually cell phones and hand-held media devices. Even if you are not a distracted driver, it is very likely that you may know someone who is. The thing about distracted driving is that most people assume that it only includes talking on your phone or even texting on it, but that is not all. Distracted driving is the action that occurs when the driver is not paying their full attention to the road or to driving in general. This is very dangerous because without paying full attention to the road and to driving, the results may be tragic.

Distracted driving irritates me as a young driver because I never know what the person beside me, behind me, or even in front of me could do as a result of distracted driving, so I always need to look out for drivers that are distracted and make sure that I am in control and ready for their next move, even though it will be unexpected. We can convince people to not be distracted while driving by simply explaining how it is better to pull over to use both hands for what they need to do rather than to use one hand for that task and only one for driving. Using both hands is much better for reacting to a situation if anything comes along unexpectedly. As a passenger, you should always try to be more hands-on and responsible for all the things that require hands such as the car temperature, the fans and vents, the radio station, the volume, programming the GPS, and/or even returning texts and answering calls for the driver. If the driver is alone, the best thing you can do if you know they are driving is not call or text them while they are on the road. As an independent driver, you should put your phone away at all times, even if it is important, I am sure that whoever it is trying to reach you, they would understand the circumstances."

Jonathan McConachie is 16 years of age and a proud owner of his G1 licence.  His mother is Marla Newell from our office, and we thank Jonathan for his contribution! Well done, Jonathan!