[Editor’s note: Mark Boada] — A Plea from a Teen on Distracted Driving
We’ve heard for years now about the scourge of distracted driving, but it’s not often that we hear it from a teenager, as in this essay by 14-year-old Neleh Vigneau Sargeant. As you read her remarkable plea, keep in mind the following:
• Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for people 15 to 20 years old.
• According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, not teens but drivers aged 30 to 39 show the highest rate of cell phone distraction in fatal crashes.
• Parents set the example: teens whose parents drive distracted are two to four times as likely to drive distracted as teens whose parents do not.
By: Neleh Vigneau Sargeant, Grade 9, Newbridge Academy
Behavioural psychologist David Strayer claims that talking on a cell phone is as bad as drunk driving because you are four times more likely to be in a crash. I remembered this fact as I sat on my school’s hockey team bus, watching the bus driver take a call while driving with 15 of my teammates aboard. The driver looked to be in his 30s and seemed to be very comfortable splitting his attention between the road and his phone, while the other passengers didn’t even notice the dangerous situation. I knew that I should speak up and regret that I didn’t, but this experience led me to look further into distracted driving, in particular, whether skill levels while multi-tasking behind the wheel differ by generations. Of course, no one should drive distracted, but understanding the limitations of their generation might make people more aware of the real dangers. Overall, I would like to achieve awareness across the generations that even the most skilled multi-taskers should never take calls or text while driving.
With this in mind, I created a hypothesis that older generations will be more affected by distractions such as talking on cell phones or texting than younger ones, and set up an experiment to see if this was true. Since it would be too dangerous to test this theory on the road, I decided to use the ‘Mario Kart’ computer game as a driving simulator. As test subjects, I used my grandparents (oover 60), my parents (30-59) and my older siblings (29 and under). For the actual test, I allowed each participant to get comfortable with the simulator, then I timed their performance to complete one lap of a track with no distractions, one while talking on a phone (hands free) and a third while sending a simple text. The results were pretty much in line with my hypothesis but shocking none the less.
The findings support the hypothesis that older generations are more impacted by distractions while driving. For the 29 and under group, the time to complete a lap increased by14% while talking on the cell phone and an additional 20% while texting. For the group aged 30 to 59, the increase in time was, respectively, 34% and an additional 45%. For the over 60 group, the increase was 35% and an additional 54%.
This does not mean that any generation should think they can safely operate a vehicle while on a cell phone (talking or texting).
Why are these findings important? There is a lot of research, print media and television ads aimed at millennials, the generation perceived to be most impacted by distractions, but we are missing a group of people who are driving distracted and who are really bad at it – the somewhat older generations. After completing my project, I found an article in health enews about a study conducted at Wayne State University that reinforces this message. Entitled “Older adults are the worst at texting and driving”, the article quotes one of the researchers:
“Generally, people believe that younger drivers are more easily distracted and therefore would be more susceptible to the dangers of texting and driving,” said Randall Commissaris, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, in a statement. “Although texting while driving had a negative impact on drivers of all ages, younger drivers were less distracted by texting, and older drivers’ performance was much worse because of their texting.”
The study really backs up my hypothesis. Now, I want to get the word out so that parents and grandparents do not think they are immune to the dangers of distracted driving and STOP DOING IT. As for my generation, we need to have a voice and not hesitate to tell adults that we don’t want them driving distracted so next time this happens on the hockey bus, not only me, but every one of my teammates will speak up to end distracted driving.
Acknowledgements:
Joseph McKillips, CEO of Network of Employers for Traffic Safety
Matthew Betz, Vice President of Fleet Channels, Samba Safety
About the Author
I am 14 and a grade 9 student at Newbridge Academy. I am a student-athlete who loves all sports, especially hockey. I play hockey for Newbridge in the Junior Women’s Hockey League all over the North Eastern States, for the Atlantic Female Training Institute on a Spring team and have progressed to the final round of try-outs for Team Nova Scotia.
After moving around for most of my childhood, I now live in Fall River, Nova Scotia where I hope to stay until I finish High School.
