I’ve learned about safe driving in high school, and also at my driving courses. While I’m aware of what I do when I’m driving, I do find myself to become distracted by phone calls. I feel compelled sometimes to pick it up, especially if it’s my own family member like my parents or sister. Other bad habits that I have are changing my music on my phone while driving, and taking quick peeks at pop-ups notifications.
This week, I did 3 things to put off phone distractions:
1) I told my parents that I am practicing safe driving, and to try not to call me when I’m driving unless it was an emergency. Each time that I drove this week, I told my parents where I was headed and the time I would leave the house. This is to make them aware that I will drive so they know not to call.
2) Made sure to set my Apple Music playlist on my iPhone before driving.
3) Turned off all notification on my phone; put my phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode.
Doing these 3 things definitely helped me to stay focused on the road. I was less stressed about notifications and calls, and I barely looked at my phone each time I drove. My ride was also a lot smoother. I cruised through roads/highways while enjoying some great music from my playlist, without having to touch my phone to skip a song. In the case that I was driving with my little sister on the passenger side, I let her control my phone (e.g. tell her the songs that I wanted to listen to as she plays it on my phone, and picking up the few calls that I got from my contacts).
From not being distracted by my phone, it helped me to drive a lot smoother while paying attention to the road/signs, and to also avoid any unexpected accidents in the future.
Aaron's Teen Driver Blog 