I live in the Greater Houston Area, and driving is something I do on a daily basis. Whether it is the 30 miles from home to the city for work or the 165 miles from home to school, the road is long and I am prone to distractions. I tend to be good about not texting and driving, but sadly it is not the only distraction drivers can have. Lately I have caught myself getting distracted by playing music on my phone and the GPS. Music is especially distracting when I make the three-hour drive from Waco to Katy as it helps time go by faster. Whenever I forget to set a playlist before starting my trip or there's a specific song that I would like listen to, I tend to grab my phone to search for it. Not only is my hand off the steering wheel, but my eyes
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I get distracted whenever I want to see the time to my destination or whether there is traffic ahead. I always tell myself that it is only for a second, but my behavior needs to stop. Once, while looking at the GPS, I slightly swerved off the road on highway TX-6 and almost drove into the grass median, Thankfully I was able to stay on the road, but it was a terrifying experience. Before getting distracted I needed to think more about the other people I could have hurt—the other students who were taking the same route home, the family on a road trip driving next to me, or the man driving home after a long day of work. I also needed to think more about my parents and sister who were waiting for me at home. The decisions we make affect others, but many people tend to forget that principle. I want to make a commitment to stop forgetting and to stop getting distracted while driving.
My plan towards distraction-free driving is a three-step process that I plan on executing immediately. The first step is to identify the distractions and to make an operational definition for each one. My first distraction is music, more specifically it is the act of picking up my phone and searching for a song, or looking for the "next" button to skip the current song. My second distraction is the act of periodically looking at the GPS on my phone to see the travel time to my
I get distracted whenever I want to see the time to my destination or whether there is traffic ahead. I always tell myself that it is only for a second, but my behavior needs to stop. Once, while looking at the GPS, I slightly swerved off the road on highway TX-6 and almost drove into the grass median, Thankfully I was able to stay on the road, but it was a terrifying experience. Before getting distracted I needed to think more about the other people I could have hurt—the other students who were taking the same route home, the family on a road trip driving next to me, or the man driving home after a long day of work. I also needed to think more about my parents and sister who were waiting for me at home. The decisions we make affect others, but many people tend to forget that principle. I want to make a commitment to stop forgetting and to stop getting distracted while driving.
My plan towards distraction-free driving is a three-step process that I plan on executing immediately. The first step is to identify the distractions and to make an operational definition for each one. My first distraction is music, more specifically it is the act of picking up my phone and searching for a song, or looking for the "next" button to skip the current song. My second distraction is the act of periodically looking at the GPS on my phone to see the travel time to my