AVOIDING SCARES

There is nothing more frightening than getting that call in evening hours from a frantic voice stating that your grandparents have been in an accident. Your grandmother is being air lifted to the hospital with chest pains, difficulty breathing and is banged up bad. Your grandfather is also banged up bad and is with your aunt driving to the hospital to be there for your grandmother. The worst feeling in the world is hearing this terrible news of your family. However, what makes it even worse is finding out that my grandparents were t-boned by a driver that was on his cell phone. My family members were almost killed because of someone else’s negligence on a cell phone. They were so busy on their phone they forgot everything they learned in Drivers Education.

We hear about how more people die in a single year from vehicular causes than the total amount of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that in two years the death from vehicular causes in the US is more that the deaths in Vietnam. These facts are staggering and should be on the driving test. New drivers need to know, that what they’re about to do can potentially have life and death consequences. The importance of driver’s education is to properly and completely train drivers to be the best, prepared, safest, and experienced drivers possible. Drivers’ education was established to teach general knowledge on a written exam. as well as gain experience driving with an experienced driver, so that the new driver can become confident, comfortable, and experienced. All this knowledge prepares new drivers to be safe, alert, and conscious of all they do behind the wheel, which translates to reducing the number of deaths.

I came up with an acronym to assist with helping drivers reduce the number of deaths related to driving. I call it, AVOID SCARES. Scares represents the following steps to check off before getting on the road. Sober, Cell Phone Away, Alert, Rested, Early Departure and Safe. If drivers always make sure they check off each of these items, then they should be ready for a safe journey that will reduce the number of vehicular deaths. The SCARES acronym reminds drivers to be Sober when driving. If you drank too much, call a friend or an Uber / Lyft. Driving drunk can not only hut or possibly kill you, but others as well. Put your Cell phone away. Cell phones should be in a bag or compartment. Drivers use cell phones to text, call someone, play music, and get GPS directions. While these are great features, they are clearly causing deaths. When your phone is away you are not inclined to use it as easily. Being Alert means you are ready to pay 100% attention to all your surroundings. This includes looking out for the bicyclist riding down the sidewalk as you’re pulling out to make a turn. It’s important to also be well Rested when you get behind the wheel. Many times, drivers are exhausted from a long day, or late night. They drive just to get home so they can go to bed, however sometimes they or someone else don’t make it. Leaving Early is also important. It helps to give drivers the time they need to get where they are going as well as extra time for traffic and or accidents along the way. This also gives us a calmer drive and assists with road rage. If you give yourself extra time to get there you’re not getting upset with others because you’re running late, they cut you off, or you cut them off. The final part of our acronym is Safe. If your ready to dive safe, and be safe, you will get into your vehicle with a safe mindset. You and everyone around you should have safe travels. By checking off all these checkpoints I feel drivers will have a safer experience on the road and be able to reduce the number of deaths related to driving.

I have been blessed to not be in a car accident or have a friend of family members drive irresponsibly. However, I have seen the horror in another’s eyes when getting a call that their child was killed in a head on collision by another driver. I know that times are changing. People are on cell phones more now than ever before and drinking more now than ever before. Laws and technology need to be created to assist in avoiding these types of accidents.

I feel that enforcing stronger laws and more costly fines will reduce the number of deaths related to driving. More law enforcement on the roads, will slow people down. The enforcement of cell phone laws and overall encouraging citizens to obey highway laws is also important. As for me, I will be checking to Avoid Scares every time I get in my vehicle. I will share with my fellow classmates these checkpoints to help them be safer drivers as well. Neil Armstrong said it best, when he said, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” We must start somewhere and share our knowledge to grow. We must share our knowledge to be safe and keep others safe.