I was not here the day this assignment was to be completed and my house is definitely nowhere near 40 meters long, but I do know how much that is, and it's a lot to be not looking at the road for. In a way, it's like someone blindfolding you and then telling you to get in your car and drive 30 to 40 meters. In another way, people are doing this, they just don't see it like that.
When you look away from the road, even for a second, your car doesn't stop moving. It is still going at the same speed as it was and will continue to until you hit the brake, and if you are not paying attention to, than people can die. You can die, the other passengers of the car can die, kids playing on the street, a mother pushing a stroller, an older man walking his dog, it doesn't matter. Anyone and everyone on the street or in a passing car as you look away from the road to answer a text or switch the station on the radio is in danger. On the highway, you travel over thirty meters per second, and that's when you are not speeding, as we all know most of you do. It is important to pay attention and not let things distract you. If it is something you feel can't wait until you get to where you going, it only takes a few minutes to pull over and do whatever it is that you have to do.
After watching this video by Volkswagen, I think it would be very effective to at least the people in the audience, because we were not told what was going to happen when the video started. They were not informed about what was going to happen when they sat down to watch a movie. It was unsuspected, and it surprised them, you could tell. It's effective because it is an interactive video, which means that it is shot in the first person and it looks as if you are the one in the drivers seat, not just some actor, and it will hopefully be remembered next time they are driving and a text alert goes off.
Sadly enough though, this video could also be ineffective because some people are just stubborn like that. They would see it as just an interesting or stupid car commercial, and never think of it again. Or they just think that it wouldn't happen to them. "Oh, but that wouldn't happen. You know that wouldn't happen to me."they say, but it does. Those who think they are invincible are sadly the ones who find out they're not.
A lot of newer cars already have a helpful invention, which is the Bluetooth that connects your cellphone to the vehicle, but that has it's own problems as well. I think the best thing is for cars and vehicles to have nothing, no Bluetooth, no internet, no cellphone service. That way, you have no choice but to pay attention to the road and your surroundings. It would also give you a chance to unplug and really connect with the other people in the car with you. If I could invent something to help stop distracted driving, it would be a jammer of some sort. Something that stops all airwaves and wireless access while the ignition is running. That way, you have to pay attention, and if you're not you shouldn't be driving.
I have been in a car with a distracted driver before, more than once actually, and I have said things and told the person to stop texting or stop talking on the phone. So yes, next time I am in a car with a distracted driver, I will speak up and say something again. Sometimes it doesn't work though, which is understandable. People are stubborn, and who's going to listen to a fifteen year old girl? I do offer to send the text or tell someone over the phone what the person driving wants to say, but sometimes that doesn't work either. Don't get me wrong though, there have been many times when they do put it away when I ask them to, or they do get me to type out and send a text, but it is only sometimes, and I wish it could be all the time.
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