Taking the Wheel

Getting a driver’s license can be the peak of any teenager’s life. It means no more asking for rides and another level of trust and respect is developed between the teen driver and their parents. However, this feeling of the world in your hand can be quickly extinguished when ignoring the rules of the road, for earning a driver’s license is not a right, it’s a privilege. Hence why there is an entire driving education class that one must complete before being able to drive, and the first step of reducing the number of deaths while driving. Knowledge of the road and laws allows for drivers to drive safely since it is the reason laws are made in the first place. So having educated drivers allows them to make the right decisions while on the road, but if another driver decides they are better than those rules, educated drivers can make calm and educated decisions that will protect both themselves and the other driver. These laws put in place are just the beginning since it all comes back to how the driver interprets those rules.

Additional steps that can be taken to prevent deaths on the road can be simply following the speed limit, using turn signals, ensuring the brake lights and other exterior mechanisms are in functioning condition, there are several additional things a driver can do to stay focused and safe on the road. However, the biggest of them all is to stay off your phone while driving. Claiming that you can “multitask” driving and being on your phone is a complete lie since multitasking isn’t entirely real. To do a task is to have 100% focus on a said task and complete it in a set amount of time, but when you start adding on responsibilities the percent of the focus on each one is divided, so not one task has your complete attention. Now when you combine this with a driver on the road in a two-ton metal box reaching seventy miles per hour is an equation for disaster. No matter what it might be, a text from mom, a funny video your friend sent you, even if it is just to check the time while driving, hands need to be off your phone.

To combat this there are steps you can take to make others and yourself better drivers. A really simple one is just pointing out whenever you or another driver makes a mistake on the road. Verbally addressing it to either yourself or others will make you more aware of the mistake you made, so when you are faced with the same situation you combat it differently and make the safest choice. Additionally, when people realize they are being put on the spot for any situation, in this case, driving, it gets them anxious knowing that someone is watching their every move, waiting to call something out. So this anxiousness pushes them to be at their best performance while driving, resulting in a prolonged safety in the ride which is then converted into a regular feeling after a while of being subjected to this pressure. Regardless, being able to address mistakes, and point out mistakes means you not only can criticize yourself but the ability to address others to ensure their safety.

All this information comes from my education in driving, as well as things my friends and family have informed me of. And unfortunately, when it comes to vehicular accidents, I too have experienced one as a passenger in my aunt’s car. I was around twelve years old when my aunt came down to our house to visit. As a special surprise, she decided to take my younger sister and me out to the mall, so we could get out of our parents’ hair, and go out to explore. Fast forward to the end of our trip, we were leaving the mall and had gotten in her car, I was in the back and my sister was in the front passenger seat. Time goes by as we are driving on a poorly lit road and I tilt my head down to close my eyes, and the next thing I know we suddenly were at a complete stop at an intersection with my sister crying and me having slammed my head into the seat. We had gotten into an accident. Once my sister and I were evacuated from the premises and taken home, we were informed that our aunt had just not been paying attention and rear-ended the car in front of her. Luckily no one was hurt, and everyone was okay, but the entire situation was terrifying. I had no idea if my sister was hurt, I did not know the state of my aunt, what if we had hit someone? This experience has followed me throughout my life. The thought of potentially hurting someone while driving makes me sick, driving me to do my best to obey the laws and be a safe driver.