Road safety

As a freshman in high school, I had to take driver’s education. Throughout the class, I tended to blow it off. I only thought of it as a class that I could get an easy A in. It wasn’t until I had my driver’s license and began driving alone that I felt the class had genuinely taught me anything. I would not have known how to handle many situations I ran into while driving if I had not completed a driver’s education. For example, during my time in the classroom, my instructor taught us to drive defensively rather than offensively. He used dashcam footage to show us how a small error or action could have serious consequences. For instance, I remember watching a video on road rage. A man accidentally cut off another driver, and that driver followed the man home and pulled a gun on him in his driveway. Last year before prom, my classmates dressed in tuxedos and dresses, applying makeup to give the impression that they had just been in a car accident on their way home from prom. They called in the fire department and the cops. I saw people I grew up with lying in a car, pretending to be hurt or dead. After the simulation, we heard a speech from a man in a near-fatal vehicle accident. Watching that hit me hard. After graduating from high school, he and his friends were speeding at night on country roads. His two friends were in the front seat and he was in the back. He was fighting with one of the boys in the front about who was going home first. His friend had a newborn baby waiting at home for him. He never saw his friend alive again after that. The driver lost control of the automobile during their argument, causing it to flip several times and crash into a ditch Before the police and ambulances could eventually find them, they Whichlaid there for hours. He was the only person in the car to survive. The doctors told him it was a miracle that he was still alive. Hearing his story felt like a punch to the stomach. Hearing him struggle to get his words out made me realize that accidents like this do happen. I believe that everyone about to get their driver’s license should have to hear a story like that from a survivor. It helps put things into perspective by showing how quickly things may change.

For this reason, your friends and family must drive carefully. I have witnessed my friends drive like crazy people. One of my friends and I share a Life360 so I can see how fast she is going and there are times that she is going over 85 on the highway. When I watch that I worry about her because if she hit someone at that speed or if she lost control of the vehicle that could cause serious damage to not only herself but others involved. Many times I have seen family and friends not pay attention while driving. I will admit that I am also guilty of this but there are a lot of steps I and others can take to make the road a safer place to be. Minimizing distractions is a huge point. So often when I am driving I see people playing on their phones as they are driving. You cannot give the road your undivided attention when using a phone while driving. Anything can happen in an instant, so if there’s something that could make your reactions stall for even a second, it might determine how serious the accident becomes. Keeping an eye on our surroundings is another important aspect that, in my opinion, would contribute to safer roadways. I think that a lot of the time, myself included, people become so focused on getting somewhere that they forget to look around when driving. I am aware that I sometimes act the same way when I am rushing to get to work or somewhere at a specific time. When driving, we must all remember that it is better to take your time and arrive safely, than to rush, get into an accident, and not arrive. Take a deep breath and watch for other vehicles and potentially dangerous situations. Since we are all human, we will all make mistakes while driving. However, if we can all learn from our mistakes and improve for the next time we get behind the wheel, the roadways would be a much safer place for everyone.