While completing this assessment, the most prominent takeaways I gathered included the shocking facts and figures of accidents from phone usage on the road, and the high frequency of people using their phones while behind the wheel. According to RAC, a quarter of people driving on the road have seen other drivers using their mobile phone. In 2021, more than 10% of all the deaths on the road were from accidents related to driver inattention from mobile devices. This is significant, as there are many reasons accidents could occur on the road, be it human error, the conditions of weather, or mechanical error, yet so many are from driver inattention. These stats are quite shocking, and they show that usage of mobile devices while driving has more of an effect than one might first think.
An important piece of advice I would pass on to all new drivers on the road is to always keep your focus on the road. If you receive a text, it can wait until you pull over. If you are having a conversation with someone, don’t let it draw your focus away from driving safely and staying aware of your surroundings. It takes a long time to become proficient and fully confident with driving, and even if you are confident, mistakes can still be made. Always concentrate on driving more than anything else that’s going on, and if you are having trouble doing that, get someone else to drive. Don’t take any chances, because the likelihood of accidents in the car goes up by a lot as soon as focus is lost.
When I start driving in a couple months, I will stick by one pledge: while driving, I will only drive when I feel aware and alert enough to do so. If ever I have had something to drink, I will not drive. If ever I am fatigued, I will not drive, or if my mind is preoccupied on something else going on to the point where I can’t focus, I will not drive. I have chosen to commit to this because this way, I will minimise accidents that involve myself, which makes the roads safer for all the cars around me as well. If I only drive when I have the capacity to be fully focused on the road, I will be a better driver overall. I will stick to this commitment by checking in with myself before a drive to see how I am feeling, and that way I can gauge whether or not it is a wise idea to drive at the time.
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