Moving about on public road systems is the single most dangerous activity that most people do in their daily activities. In that space, all kinds of things can go wrong in the blink of an eye. That means that time spent driving, cycling, and walking on the road is the highest risk period of the day.
Therefore, when driving on public roadways, it’s important to put down your phone and stay focused on the task at hand. Not just for the safety of you and your family, but also the lives of innocent people and children in your path.
Driving Safety Should Be Your Primary Concern
The number one thing anyone should be concerned with while driving is safety. Your Facebook notification is not more important than the child skipping down the street. Make sure that when you drive, you’re ready to put all of life’s other distractions on hold.
Several things distract drivers of all ages and creeds. Playing on the phone is the most common distracter and it’s a doozy. Distracted drivers are as dangerous as drunk drivers.
Checking your social media pages is like an addiction. And potentially injuring someone over a laugh reaction is very frivolous compared to the health and well-being of a stranger. And chances are that if you killed someone because of something so fleeting and worthless, you’d never forgive yourself and it would set your life on a new and dark path.
Many other major distractions keep drivers mentally scattered. Kids yelling in the back, life stressors, music, singing, intoxication, and many others.
If you do injure a pedestrian, being sober and not having any mobile phone activity at the time in question will exonerate you. Driving with your wits about you will help with your claim. As it should. But being found guilty of the previously stated transgressions with doom your story.
Doing These Things Will Keep Everyone Safe
There are a few things you can do to make sure no one gets injured when you’re behind the wheel.
- Drive slow
- Pay attention
- Stay sober
- Avoid Distractions
- Be mindful of the situation
Of course, driving slowly and keeping an eye out for pedestrians is the fundamental way to avoid accidents. Nonetheless, people often speed and get carried away because they are late for work or are having some other problem. Often people don’t even want to speed, but they get distracted by thoughts and don’t even look at the speedometer.
And thoughts, emotions, friends, singing, phones, and all kinds of things distract people and prevent them from being careful drivers. It only takes half a second to change your life. So while it’s ok to sing or listen to music, you shouldn’t allow yourself to become animated physically. Other distractions should be avoided entirely. For some things like checking a map, you should just pull over for a moment. It’s easier for you and a lot safer for everyone else stuck on the road with you.
Success Is Based On Consistency
As mentioned previously, it only takes a second to cause an accident. Along with sobriety and slow driving, consistency is the name of the game. Of course, it’s easy to pull it together in the short term, but avoiding pedestrian accidents is something you’ll want to try to do every time you get behind the wheel.
That means pulling over to check your map or send a message. You need to do this every single time or at least wait till your all the stoplight. It means resisting the temptation to speed because you’re late, or just want to get home as soon as possible.
It means being respectful of the lives of everyone around you, every day of your life. Because if you do cause a pedestrian accident, it’s going to be when you’re distracted, or drunk.
Mindfulness
The key to driving safety is mindfulness.
You must have awareness of your surroundings, such as a school zone or residential area. You must also have awareness of yourself and the emotional state you are experiencing. If you are in a hurry or otherwise distraught, it can seriously impact your driving.
It also means you must be aware of your addictions and the value them. Checking your phone is never more important than a child’s life.
Always knowing exactly where you are, how fast you’re going, and having a clear mental state is the key to safe and responsible driving.