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By Juliana White
Multi-tasking on the road comes as second nature to many. The risks and consequences are a mere afterthought. But is it as easy as people say it is? I put my distracted driving skills to the test with help from CSUF’s campus police to find out.
Texting while driving is a danger most drivers don’t think twice about doing.
Phones are an integral part of our everyday lives. Putting down these small digital boxes is hard. From checking social media to texting friends, phones are our lifeline to staying connected. The inability to stay off the phone creates a dangerous, even fatal, issue.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, “About 3,000 people die in crashes involving a distracted driver every year.” Texting while driving is one of the most prominent culprits of distracted driving. The main demographic is teens and young adults.
With the help of Cal State Fullerton police, Professor Robert Quezada tested our journalism class’s ability to text and drive.
Cal State Fullerton Police set up cones and golf carts in a section of Lot A for the texting and driving simulation. (Photo by Juliana White)
Early Friday morning on April 28, around 20 students assembled at a small empty parking lot off North State College Boulevard and Children’s Way. A mixture of nervous, excited chatter grows as two officers check two lines of bright orange traffic cones, forming a short wavy lane across the small square lot. Leaving only a few inches of space for a golf cart to drive through.
Before starting, Officer Brandon Marantz talked about the dangers of distracted driving.
“About 660,000 people at all given times of the day are on their phone while they’re driving.” Marantz said. While patrolling around campus, he sees many drivers looking down at their phones.
Our goal for this assignment was to do just that. Navigate a campus golf cart through the cone path while texting, “Let’s go see Guardians of the Galaxy.” No typing errors. No cone casualties.
Increasing the difficulty, four students working with campus police passed around a basketball five feet away from the course finish line. Aiming the ball in-between the cones. Attempting to get us to drive right into it. Another obstacle to avoid hitting.
“So. Who wants to go first?” Marantz asked.
We stood there looking at each other. Questioning who was brave enough to be first.
Tension lightened after Cameron Macedonio stepped up and volunteered. It was interesting seeing students varying reactions during and after their turns.
When my turn came my heart was beating like a drum. Walking over to the driver side of the electric cart, I slid in behind the wheel. Buckling my seat belt before looking at Marantz for instructions. After giving a quick rundown of how to drive the cart, his orders started flowing out like water.
“Before you go put one some tunes,” Marantz said. “I’m not feeling this song. Change it. You’re going too slow. Speed up. Don’t hit the cones. Pick another song. You can’t stop in the middle of the road. Keep driving.”
Frazzled by an information overload, I focused more on the road than my phone. Bumping into at least four cones while typing out a barely legible sentence, “Let’s go see gussdus x of THR g.”
My driving was not the smoothest. Cautious to avoid hitting any cone my foot pressed on the break a few too many times. Slightly jerking the cart.
Students do a test run of the course before texting and driving. (Photo by Juliana White)
Some took on the task confidently. Calmly taking the wheel. Completing the course with ease. Sending a flawless text.
Others hesitated, taking time adjusting to the cart. Carefully entering the cone path. Gradually gaining speed. Bumping a few cones. Failing to send the text.
A few students were jumping with nerves. Mentally preparing before their ride. Rolling past the starting line, they quickly scraped past cones. Flattening multiple while steering off course.
I am not surprised I failed the course. I never type out texts while driving. Instead, I use the voice-to-text setting. That is not much better than typing. It is something I never think twice about. This assignment has made me more self-aware of my distracted driving habits.
Once other classmates completed their turns, I asked them how they felt about this simulation.
“That was really terrifying considering that I don’t have a license,” AJ Yabut said. “I think the distracted driving awareness activity that we’re doing right now is very beneficial.”
Despite not having a license, as Yabut drove through the course you could see her confidence grow. Even after flattening five cones while steering off course, she decided to try again. She was unsuccessful but said the experience was fun.
Three Cal State Fullerton police officers help student AJ Yabut get back onto the course after driving through the cone barrier. (Photo by Juliana White)
“It was definitely nerve-racking not only just having a police officer next to me, but also two other people in the back. I felt concerned for their safety,” Ariana Hartman said.
Her response surprised me because she looked fairly confident behind the wheel. She successfully completed the task. Hitting zero cones and sending an errorless text.
“I feel like I already do a pretty good job not going on my phone when I’m driving or anything like that, but this definitely made me think, oh yeah, I definitely should not do that,” Hartman said.
What makes distracted driving so dangerous is how far a car travels in only a few seconds.
“Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for five seconds. At 55 mph, that’s like driving the of an entire football field with your eyes closed,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In efforts to lower the number of accidents each year, many states have implemented varying laws and regulations, penalizing distracted drivers.
California bans any cellphone use and text messaging for all drivers. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, “Thirty-one states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using handheld cellphones while driving. All are primary enforcement laws – an officer may cite a driver for using a handheld cellphone without any other traffic offense taking place.”
Pull off the road. Stop. Then check your phone. Not a single text is worth risking your life or the lives of other drivers.
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