Until Elon’s cars 100% self-drive, and/or until his boring company builds underground tunnels all over, humans will be responsible for driving and with increasing traffic, thanks to public transportation in US and India, it is imperative that we stop getting distracted while driving.
When did it all start and how? In 2015, after my son was born, my parental instincts of being careful and cautious kicked in. I decided to not use my cell phone while driving. Prior to that, I’ve had a couple of instances of running a red light because I wasn’t paying attention.
“Aren’t there other forms of distractions?” Sure, there are, but for me, it was that one quick call or just a glance to change the music or just an email. But, I realized that “just” is all it takes to change your life. So, you have to decide what distracts you while driving and take the pledge to a distraction-free driving
Why post now? I saw something on Facebook yesterday that made me want to write about my commitment to distraction-free driving. “I almost died 4 years ago in heavy fog. I looked at my phone for a second because I got a meeting cancellation, looked up and a dump truck had completely stopped in front of me”.
For a while now, I have been striking deals with my friends 1:1 to avoid cell usage when driving, and want to encourage others to adopt the same commitment.
What’s your point? I learnt how-to drive, in India, and that teaches you to be very attentive (always on the lookout). This video explains why (though bigger cities are better organized)
That said, we drive much faster here in US, so much faster reaction time is needed here; and since driving is more orderly in US, it becomes very mechanical, allowing us to do “other” stuff — use a mobile phone, put makeup on, brush and shave or even read.
The human brain cannot do two things at the same time so drivers can’t really multitask. There really is no driving and texting at the same time.; Our brain switches between the two thinking tasks. There is a cost to this switching — reduction in efficiency and slower reaction times. npr: Think You’re Multitasking? Think Again
My son, who is three and half years old, is riding a bicycle now, and I hear myself saying things like “look to the right, look to the left” and “pay attention”, etc. Shouldn’t I be practicing what I preach? It’d be very hypocritical if I teach him to pay attention while on road, but then watch a YouTube video on my phone while driving.
I am busy, and can’t be idle while driving — Other than saying, you are not really busy, just need better time management (at which point some of you will stop reading), I have no other argument. All I can say is, like insurance (which we hope to never use) which we use 1 in million times, accidents due to distracted driving are rare, but one time it happens, there is no going back. If you have been in an accident (if not, good for you), remember the sound of the crash and how there was no going back.
Sure, convinced, how do I start? Old habits die hard, so for the first two months, I had to leave my phone in the back seat of my car to train myself and not give in to the urge of looking at it while driving or while waiting at a traffic light. I have also been tracking and recording the number of times I broke the rule, not just when I had to make a phone call, but even when I looked at it for switching Amazon music playlists, so essentially, any phone-related activity that made me take my eyes off the road. The purpose of this exercise is to be self-aware and stay on course. Below are the number of misses in parentheses for each year. 2017 was my best year so far. Number of times I broke my rule — 2015 (6), 2016 (9), 2017 (1), 2018 (13), 2019 (9)
I use this as an example when I teach Tech. Manager Development — Mechanisms and habit formation module at Amazon- 1) start small, use micro habits and 2) track progress to goal
