Road to Improvement

Today we live in a world fueled by movement and everyone always has someplace to go. From trips to school to trips to the mall we all travel in one way or another every day. As cars speed down expressways and county roads we need to slow down and take some time to educate ourselves on the activity that is a part of our daily lives. Driving is one of the most consistently dangerous things we can do and this is because of a multitude of factors. Mainly this is because of unsafe driving practices we might not even be fully aware of or just don’t think really matter that much. However, speeding an extra five miles or not using turn signals can literally be the difference between life and death. I personally don’t think there is any age to be the “perfect” driver. Young drivers are often criticized for their lack of experience and older drivers are criticized for not having the quickest reflexes. However, I’ve found the problem with middle-aged drivers to be that they have a false sense of security. They think that they have enough experience and enough youth to not be cautious. This is however also an age where we see bad habits be justified the most and taught to younger drivers. All in all, I believe each age category has its own issues with driving and that is why I don’t believe in a perfect age to drive. What I do believe in is education. You can be a good and safe driver at any age as long as you continue your education. Every year we lose many lives of all ages and walks of life to poor driving and the more aware we are of this the more likely we are to stop our unsafe habits. With more education, we are also more likely to learn or relearn things that we may have previously forgotten. There is no downside to continuing your education in safe driving, there is only the path to becoming an even safer driver and reducing the number of lives lost to driving-related incidents. This starts with accepting that you aren’t the perfect driver. No one is perfect and there is always room for improvement which also applies to driving. You will always have something to work on and this can be done by taking a course or doing something as simple as evaluating the things you do wrong on the drive home. The more caution we use the less risk we take in our daily lives. One of my biggest pet peeves with my own aunt is her use of her phone while driving for “quick” text messages. She tends to justify her behavior by saying she’s an experienced driver and knows how to multitask. However one of the leading causes of crashes is due to cell phone usage so I try to remind her that it only takes a quick second for a crash to occur. Another more extreme example from my community was last spring. A 19-year-old was racing down a road in the early morning hours and then proceeded to strike a family. This occurred the day after Mother’s Day and the husband and son didn’t make it. The mother was the only survivor in that vehicle. This was an extremely upsetting news story for me and I believe it highlights the dangers of driving. This reckless action on that individual’s part cost a woman her family. Racing your friends is not a safe action and this joyride is not worth anyone’s life. You may think you can stop or be cautious at the last minute, but you should always be practicing safe driving. Something like this is extremely avoidable and yet things like this still happen. Telling stories such as this one is also a way to raise awareness that could result in drivers thinking twice before doing something that isn’t safe. So I would encourage everyone to tell their stories and keep raising awareness. You could be the person that makes someone evaluate and save lives. I also think reminding drivers of things like this or calling out bad habits is a good way of helping others improve their driving. They are not above critiques and when continuously reminded of things they are doing wrong they will subconsciously make the effort to change it. Even if it’s only in an effort to make you stop nagging them. This mentality would also have to apply to yourself though. Nag yourself the way you would others. The only way you can improve is by constantly trying to better yourself.