Have you ever opened your phone to text someone back while driving? If you have then you are a contributor to distracted driving. Distracted driving doesn't just mean being on your phone, it also means eating, trying to adjust the radio, lighting a cigarette, daydreaming, or even just looking for a pair of sunglasses, all while driving a vehicle. Death by distracted driving has been a common occurrence ever since humans created vehicles. However, the most common distracted driving method has been cell phones. (Edwards and Wundersitz). Due to the evolution of phones, texting while driving has only got more enticing. With rising numbers of distracted driving, it is good to know how to avoid engaging in it. Luckily, there are many ways to steer clear of distracted driving such as paying attention to weather and road conditions, limiting the amount of people in your car, leaving your phone face down, and driving sober. From 2001 to 2007, increased texting resulted in more than 16,000 fatalities. (Wilson and Stimpson). Cell phone usage while driving is dangerous due to using your eyes, ears, and hands, which takes the focus away from the road. According to Edwards and Wundersitz, a majority of distracted drivers voluntarily engage in these behaviors, therefore unable to change. When texting and driving, you may have cognitive distractions. (Edwards and Wundersitz). These distractions include daydreaming and being lost in your own thoughts, therefore taking yourfocus off the road. When driving a vehicle, it is important to focus on the road and your surroundings, rather than engage in cognitive distractions.When driving early in the morning or on your way home with the warm sun beaming into your car, it may cause you to feel a sense of tiredness or relaxation. It is great to feel such a way, but not while actively driving. When we are in a state of relaxation while driving, our mind may wonder off and daydream, also known as being on auto pilot. (Strayer et al.) This is known as cognitive distractions and can lead to vehicular accidents. Cognitive distractions aren’t always daydreaming, they are influenced by cell phonesalso. A study was done in Canada to observe the usage of hands-free cell phone usage and how it affects our cognitive abilities. Twenty-one drivers took an 8km (approximately 5 miles) route while engaging in answering many different addition problems while on a hands free call.(Harbluk et al.) Examples of these problems were listed as (6+9) and (47+38). After completing the drive, researchers compiled the data collected from the drivers using visual scanning of eye movement, braking and acceleration, and the drivers workload. The results of this study showed that most of the drivers put more focus on the call and questions, rather than checking the mirrors and surroundings. While performing these tasks, drivers showed hard braking when answering the harder questions. This evidence shows that even when not actively typing on your phone, talking to someone hands free while driving can still limit your attention on the road. While there is the risk of being cognitively distracted by noise or people in your car, you can also be distracted by being cognitively impaired. Ways to be impaired include usage of substances such as alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and others. When under the influence of these substances, your ability to focus on the road and surroundings is impaired. (Kelly et al.)There are many ways to be distracted while driving, but also ways to avoid it. Examples of this include putting your phone face down, managing volume level in your car, and driving sober. These can be effective so long as you stick to strict driving rules.Putting your phone face down within reach is a good idea, however you may feel inclined to reach for it at any moment. While it may seem like a better idea to place it out of reach, it can be a good idea to keep it close in case of emergency. Having a phone with you while driving can be a tricky test of your vulnerability to give in. Along with the usage of phones while driving, you may connect your phone to your car using Bluetooth to listen to music. When playing music on your phone, it gives you the option to switch the song to a different one with the tap of a button. To avoid this, make a playlist of songs you enjoy ahead of time, that way you are able to listen to your favorite songs without using your phone while driving. However, listening to your favorite songs might make you turn the volume up louder to hear it better and sing along. This can be dangerous for reasons such as emergency personnel with sirens on. If you have your music up too loud, chances are you won’t hear the sirens coming in time to slow down and move over. If you drive while distracted, you are putting yourself and others in danger of getting in an accident. If your distracted driving is the cause of an accident, you could be fined and possibly have your license revoked if you were drunk driving. Taking away the license of drunk drivers has shown to be effective. (Ross and Gonzales). With every person that gets behind the wheel, intoxicated or not, there are dangers. It could be you or someone else making the roads around you unsafe, but that is a risk, nonetheless.While there are no truly proven ways to banish distracted driving, there are ways to lower the risk and prevent it.My proposal to lower the number of distractions while driving is simple. Because of the updated technology, new updates come out all the time for our phones. If every phone company mandated an update to detect when a phone is being used in a moving car and not allow you to use your phone, the risk of being on your phone can be decreased significantly, therefore lowering your distractions. You may ask, “What if I'm not the one driving, but I still want to be on my phone?”, and while that is a valid point, there is more to my idea. AI technology is widely used today. If we wish to get on our phones while in a moving car then we must take a picture of our point of view from the car. Remember, your phone will only be locked while the car is moving, so you can’t take a picture while in the passenger seat and then hop in the driver's seat. While this system may have some errors and loopholes, it could be very effective. Although the biggest worry is the usage of phones, there still isn’t an effective way to prevent other distractions such as being under the influence and having the volume up too loud. To prevent these issues, it relies on the driver of the car to be responsible, but humans aren’t immune to making mistakes. Setting good rules and boundaries in place can be effective, as long as they are consistently enforced. If every driver on the road does their part to ensure good driving habits, the roads will be a safer place, and the number of accidents and fatalities will decrease.