Distracted Driving Family Plan

As I rode my bicycle down a familiar road near my house, having nearly completed a fifteen-mile ride, I found myself suddenly spinning through space with no air.  I instantly knew I had been hit by a car, but how could this be happening?  As I moved in slow motion, I wondered how much it would hurt to finally let gravity push me onto the ground.  As I landed, first with the elbow, then with my left hip, pain jolted me.  I rolled and remember seeing a red SUV emergency braking.  Finally, I came to a stop. Pain!  I immediately rolled off of my left side and found myself rolling the opposite way down into a ditch.

Assessing my situation, my pain and my happiness to be alive, I ached in pain unsure of what to do.  The driver was braking so I was sure I had help coming.  I kept trying to move, but any movement hurt.  I tried deep breathing, but I was panting in pain.  Suddenly I hear a male voice say “Man!” and I asked for an ambulance.  I would be okay.  The driver stopped and I would be okay.  I didn’t hear anything and I couldn’t see anyone.  There’s no call being made and I don’t hear anything.  I asked for help again… no answer.  No answer!  I rolled on to my side and I see a while male enter his red SUV and drive away.

That day, I was hit by what I assume is a distracted driver.  It obviously changed my life in many ways.  I was lucky.  I had only a few broken bones and road rash, but a few inches to the right and I would be dead.  As I touch those scars and remember that day, it has forever changed the way I drive.

These days, people think they can multitask – do two things at once and have concentration on both tasks enough to operate safely and accomplish tasks more quickly.  This is a ruse.  The human mind can only really operate successfully on one task at a time with complete concentration.  Yet, we still eat hamburgers while we drive or dial our phones.  We drive with our knees while our hands are busy searching for the sunglasses we just dropped.  Somehow, we feel invincible behind the wheel.

It is interesting however to me that we really know that we are not really that good at driving and eating French fries.  When I clean up my car, I’m astounded at the fries on the floor.  Clearly my concentration is not as good as I perceive it to be.  We know, yet, nearly everyday we still do it?  We feel safe, but are those around us safe?  I register a hardy “No” here.

When we look at the statistics, we find that ten people die every day in the U.S. and thousands are injured.  How we know it is wrong, yet do it anyway is a testament to our own feelings of invincibility.  According to psychologists, young people tend to have an idea that bad things will not happen to them which brings on riskier behavior.  As we age this wears off to some degree because life teaches lessons, some of them very harsh lessons.

So, you might be asking at this point, how to avoid being distracted.  The real and time-tested method to avoid it is to plan the trip and set your own guidelines for driving behavior.  Simple things like leaving a few minutes early can give you time to actually eat at a table at the drive through restaurant instead of trying to eat that Whopper while driving.  Properly setting up your phone to operate with your hands-free car system or Bluetooth headset can keep your hands on the wheel and your concentration clear.  Keep your phone calls short on and on the topic.  Planning your trip so that you your music already selected and your coffee already mixed can allow your concentration to be on the task at hand, driving.

The Copilot Club from the Automobile Safety Foundation has a series of recommendations that seems well thought out and clear for passengers.  This effort allows those travelling as passengers to help the driver focus on driving and removes distractions.

Having been hit by a distracted driver might have been a good thing for me because it has given me focus in my own driving habits.  I could have been this driver myself with my eyes on my phone instead of on the road.  I could have been the one standing on the side of the road looking at a torn cyclist in the ditch contemplating my own well-being and legal difficulties.  While I would have called for help and stayed at the scene to care for that cyclist, I have been that guy allowing everything but driving safely distract me from the task at hand.  Make a plan, leave a little early, keep focus on driving.  Three easy ways to avoid driving distracted.