The quiet is what everyone remembers. How is was like the world had calmed down and settled for a moment to let you enjoy the beauty of all that surrounds you. Then when you hear the sound of the ear splitting crash, you know that the beauty of the brief silence will be a distant memory. The two cars become one as they collide almost as if they were meant to be one, metal bends and morphs, transforming into a gruesome sculpture that depicts nothing but pain. The creaking and screeching of tires comes next, the two vehicles teeter and finally come to a rest on the road. Then the groans and screams of pain and shock fill the air, something sparks and a small fire starts in the engine one cars but will soon spread the next one. Onlookers rush to the scene, trying to help those who are trapped inside. More shouts fill the air.
“Someone call 911!-We have to get them out!-There are people trapped inside!” people are yelling and screaming inside the car and outside. One person is already dead, his head hanging at an unnatural angle as his lifeless body rests on the pavement. People are rushing to help the survivors, a woman is trapped in one car, her legs pinned under the dashboard, and they can’t get her out. She starts crying, the blood from an open wound mixes with her tears. “Jack! Jack! Help me! Where is Jack?!” She cries out in fear, looking frantically around. “Jack!” she screams again. The ambulance arrives and the fire department is able to put out the fire but danger still remains. Police officers cover up the body on the road, finding his cell phone still clutched in his lifeless hand.
1 in 4 accidents are caused by someone texting and driving. In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 3,267 in 2010. An additional, 387,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 416,000 injured in 2010. According to Distraction.gov, 10% of all injury crashes in 2011 were because of distracted driving.
Every accident caused by distracted driving can be prevented if we all just pay attention, turn off our cell phones, slow down and make intelligent decisions. Distracted driving can have terrible consequences, including causing accidents, causing injury, and even worse, causing death. Distracted driving is not just texting, it’s speeding, driving drunk, driving while under the influence of other substances, really anything that takes your mind, or eyes off the road. Distracted driving not only is costly if you’re caught, it’s even worse if you’re not.
There are 3 types of distractions you can encounter while driving. Most think that there are fewer, like just texting. But the types of distracted driving are different from the forms they take; you may not know you are even using them. Until it’s too late.


The first type of distracted driving is Manual; this is when you remove one or both of your hands from the steering wheel. It could be to grab that soda you just bought, or to take a bite of the burger you’re hurrying to eat on your way back to school or work. Even if you take your hand off the wheel for a moment, it’s still a form of distracted driving, as ludicrous as that might seem.

The next type of distracted driving is Visual, when you take your eyes off the road for any reason, even if you are looking at the deer that happens to be running alongside the car. Like when you play eye spy for a second with your kids or look through your bag for some gum or a CD. Now if you’re at a red light or a drive through, that’s ok as long as you’re still paying attention when it’s your turn to go and you put the item down to focus on the road ahead. That brings us to our next topic.

The last type of distracted driving is cognitive. This is when you are driving the car but your mind is not. It’s when your brain is a thousand miles away while you are left behind the wheel. This is what I believe to be the scariest form of distracted driving. When your mind wonders, you tend to stare into space. Looking at one thing or direction without really focusing on it, then you tend to head in the direction you are staring at, sometimes into oncoming traffic or a tree. Letting your mind leave the road is very dangerous, but using one or more of these types of distracted driving is deadly.
Using one of these types of distracted driving is tempting fate enough but when they all come together, you’re asking for trouble by mocking death. It takes all three types to text and drive, causing multiple deaths every day. 1 in four accidents is caused by someone who was texting and driving.

After a night out with the friends, you decide to call it a night. Since you only live a few miles away you decide to drive home. You only had a couple of drinks, right? You’re fine, just drive slowly and don’t get caught. You’ll be fine. But what about the family of 4 coming home from the movies, will you see them pull out of the parking lot? Will you be able to stop in time? And if you are able to stop, what about that dog that runs into the middle of the road? Will you swerve to miss him only to hit that telephone pole? But these questions don’t seem to register or matter to you till it’s too late. When the police come the only thing that matters now, is that little breath test, and the number it reads.

On average one alcohol-impaired-driving-fatality occurs every 53 minutes. That’s 53 people who didn’t have to die. 53 people who are leaving behind families, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and even those friends who love us no matter what. Our pets suffer, too.

You’re a soccer mom who’s late to pick up your kids from practice. You slept in and are late for work; the boss is going to go berserk. You’re a teenage girl who just found out her best friend stole the guy of her dreams and you are rushing to the mall to yell at her. You’re a guy who’s had a tough day at work and just needs to get home, to relax and watch a little TV, but traffic is going to slow for your liking. It doesn’t matter who you are, you’ll always have an excuse for why you need to speed to get somewhere. You weave in between the other cars, or pass the slow person in front of you by swerving into the other lane. The sound of screeching tires fill the air and lives are forever changed because of one decision.

Too many people we know have died because of speeding. Just last year, a kid I came to love like my own little brother died in a car accident when the driver decided to go 120 miles per hour when the speed limit was only 50. The accident happened because the driver was not only speeding but texting, too. This caused him to be responsible for 3 deaths, my friend, the drivers’ girlfriend and his own. There were 3 other passengers in the car and they are only alive because my friend sacrificed himself to save them. They weren’t wearing seat belts, so when they went off the road, my friend threw off his seatbelt and threw himself on top of them. One of the people he saved was his girlfriend. She still calls me every night to talk.
She misses him.

There are too many reasons not to drive distracted, death being a huge reason. Life is short enough, why shorten your life anymore by driving distracted? I urge you to please be careful when you drive, to be aware of your surroundings while driving safely. That text can wait, you can call them back later, eat that burger and large pop back at the office. If you see something off the side of the road, don’t stare at it and wonder what the heck it is, keep your eyes and mind on the road ahead and get to your destination safely. It only takes a second for everything to go wrong. “It was only one text, it was only one beer, it was only a few miles over the speed limit.” Well, you only have one life. Use it wisely, before it’s gone.