By Aliyah Bidwell, Senior Reporter
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, urging drivers to be more cautious and focused when hitting the road.
The national campaign began in 2017. Law enforcement presence along roadways is typically higher as part of the effort, which accompanies the media campaign “U Drive. U Text. U Pay” to educate drivers about the deadly consequences of texting and driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration encourages people to remind their loved ones not to text and drive. It also encourages people to take a pledge not to drive while distracted by anything.
To avoid distracted driving, the NHTSA urges drivers to pull their cars off the road to check important text messages or have a passenger respond to them.
The biggest cause of distracted driving is phone usage. However, distracted driving could include eating, drinking, fidgeting with the radio or even talking with passengers and children in the backseat.
From 2017 to 2021, about 250 drivers died on Oklahoma roadways, and nearly 8,000 people were injured because of distracted driving, according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Northwestern student Kylee Harzman said she experienced firsthand the dangers of distracted driving. She was driving near McDonald’s in February when someone pulled out in front of her and another car.
Harzman stopped her car in time, barely avoiding a collision with the offending car.
She said the close call shouldn’t have occurred, and it wouldn’t have if the driver of the offending car hadn’t been distracted. Harzman and the other car were in view of the offending car, which was at a stop sign.
“[Distracted driving is] a lot more common than what we want to think it is, and there definitely needs to be more education around it,” Harzman said.