There’s nothing quite like getting ready for a highly anticipated road trip. You get your snack foods for the drive, you get your cooler full of drinks, and you make sure your luggage is all ready and packed before you set out. You get into your car full of excitement, but then you realize there’s a problem: your music player didn’t charge correctly. This means that you need to listen to the radio while you plug it in and wait for it to charge enough so that it can connect to your car’s stereo system. This isn’t always a terrible thing, but you quickly remember why you aren’t a fan of the radio. You know what kind of music you enjoy and it isn’t the same 30 songs over and over with ten minutes of commercials in between every three or four songs. This results in you trying to scan through the radio stations every few minutes. This normally isn’t too much of a problem, but it does require you to take your eyes off the road every time you want to find the seek button. That’s where the real danger in all this is.
Any time you take your eyes off the road, even for a second, it is dangerous. It’s important to remember that you are not the only person driving on the road and you can never assume that everyone else is driving responsibly. With more and more drivers driving distractedly, it’s safer to drive with extreme caution. Keeping your eye on the other cars is a must, but that means that you cannot drive while distracted. If you are trying to change the radio frequently, you may miss something like road work ahead, which can quickly cause a crash. While music may be an important part of your drive, it is never more important that getting to your destination safely.
Driving with the radio on can be fine, but if it’s going to be more of a distraction than a benefit, it’s better to drive in silence. You should always do your best to bring along something that will help make your trip easier, even if that means your old music player so you can have it playing in the backseat. Anything that takes your attention away from the road is more of a liability than it helps. You never know, you may actually enjoy having time to think for a change!
