A few Saturdays back, I was IM’d by my mother that their driver was involved in an accident. After bringing my father to the airport for an early morning flight, he was driving northbound along C-5 when he fell asleep on the wheel. The family AUV hit a Pasig city lamppost. Lamppost was uprooted from its base. Car’s hood was wrecked (along with some internal damages).

Unbeknownst to the family, the driver was also moonlighting as a tricycle driver during nighttimes and finished his shift at 3 a.m. that morning. To add to the injury, the driver wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, and hit the windshield with his head. Good thing he did not sustain major injuries (or so we hope).

Much of the day was spent talking to–and waiting for–police officers and city hall officials. We did not know about the extent of the damage until later that day, when we visited the car at the impounding area.

Lesson learned from this incident: don’t drive when you are sleepy. Sleepiness impairs your judgement and reflex/reaction time. You can also experience bouts of “micro sleep” in which your eyes are open, but your brain falls asleep for a fraction of a second to a few seconds. A lot can happen during this time, especially when you are on the road.

Much of the damage will be shouldered by insurance (payment to the city government for property damage, and car repairs), except the participation fee, towing fees and impounding fees (the car was no longer running). But accidents like this cause hassles and inconvenience to a lot of people. If there is bodily injury, then that’s even worse.

Again, if you feel sleepy, pull over to the side of the road and take a few minutes’ rest. If you can alternate with another driver, then that’s better. You can even stop over at a gas station and grab a coffee or an energy drink. Even a small snack can help keep you awake.

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If there is one thing familiar to you these days, it is that of banning the use of mobile phones while driving. It has become customary to answer calls or text messages regardless if you are on the road. Through this, the growing number of car accidents have swelled mainly because a single second of taking your eyes of the road can lead to dire consequences which most drivers today totally disregard.

This is really a habit that should be corrected. Actually, drivers know that this should not be done and yet they continue to disregard such. Keeping your eyes on the road is a must and this includes being on a full stop or on the move. People claim that they need to answer their messages or calls but perhaps if they would consider what would happen if they bump into another car or worst, a person due to their hard-headedness.

To date, there have been laws where drivers who use their mobile phones will be apprehended. Not a bad way to make people to stop texting while driving. But what if they are using a heavily dark tinted vehicle? How will the traffic enforcers or police be able to know if the people are indeed using their phones while they are on the go?

The sad thing about society is that people always want to live on the forbidden side. Texting while driving is something that doesn’t need to be enforced by law. But since people are so enthusiastic about using their phones while driving, more lives are being claimed by the day. Hopefully though it will not be yours.

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