Highway to Hell

Being an unsafe driver is a one way free ticket to your demise. Driver’s ed is a class that students who have gotten their permit can take outside or inside of school. The course is to help teens learn and practice safe driving skills for when they go off on the road for the first time. Driver Ed teacher’s have a job that is to keep us safe when we are on the road. They do this by teaching us safe driving techniques and show us people’s past mistakes so we can avoid them in the future. It is scary to watch car crashes, but it is scarier being involved in one. The point is not to scare us, but to help us avoid the same mistakes Little mistakes can lead to big issues. One may think that going five miles over the speed limit is not a big deal but it can quickly lead to running a red light and getting into a head on collision with another car. Unfortunately even with driver’s ed many still make careless and stupid mistakes. We have to help carry the weight of being safe driver’s ourselves. The program is fifty percent of teaching us but we have to put that fifty percent into putting those safe driving skills to use, because then they serve no value to being a safe driver.

Even if you are not driving it is important to observe other drivers, see who is on their phone, speeding, going too slow, running traffic signs, swerving, and under the influence of drugs and alcohol. This is seen as knowing your surroundings which many people who get into accidents do not do because they are under the impression that everyone will follow the law. It is safer to assume that everyone will not follow the law. I prefer the technique of a newborn being behind the wheel. If you are driving, check blind spots, adjust your mirrors, adjust your seat, call a friend after too many drinks to take you home, and I can not stress this enough, always wear a seatbelt. If you are just walking across the street look up and check both sides of the road. It won’t hurt to take your eyes off your phone while crossing. Also always use a crosswalk. Crosswalks are the safest way to cross a busy street because when there’s a red light you are much more likely to be safe crossing then jaywalking. Jaywalking is when someone crosses the street with a crosswalk. This is very dangerous because cars can come speeding through and hit you.

Being a safer driver is also about hanging out with the right people. Friends can have an impact, some positive, some negative, but it is life saving to choose the right crowd to hang out with. Hanging out with the right people may just save your life.

I can say I am lucky that I have never been involved in a car accident and neither has anyone close to me. But unfortunately I have been in a car with someone who in the nicest way possible was being idiotic when driving. Texting and driving is one of the major reasons why teens get into car crashes. I was with a past friend who I trusted to keep me safe but he was texting and driving. Thankfully nothing bad happened but the outcome could have been so much different if we collided with another car all because of a stupid snap message.

We all hold responsibilities on being safer drivers and it is important to let others around you know the importance of driver’s ed and being a safe driver. A major step I can take is reminding myself and others to always wear a seatbelt, even if it is only a two minute ride from home. I will not stay silent when I see someone driving unsafely on the road in the future. This small act can help save many lives. I will take further action by calling an uber for someone if they come out of a club under the influence. Teens already make reckless mistakes to seem cool in front of peers, but there is a limit that we can not cross. Speeding with many people in the car may seem cool, but you know what is cool, going the speed limit and not putting yourself and others in danger. It is up to us to safely drive on the road and hopefully get the car accidents down to at least 10%.