Name: Colbe Lane Cortez
From: Bryant, AR
Votes: 1
Education
of driving is almost more important than learning how to walk.
Someone walking can’t mow down a group of innocent bystanders
minding their own business like someone driving a vehicle can. Let’s
face it, if a car is doing 40 mph and hits a person walking across
the street, according to Newton’s Laws of Motion the person would
be critically injured or killed. Now where does drivers ed
come into play, you ask? Knowing and abiding by the rules of the road
are important and being educated regarding reaction time and
judgement as well as overall mindset matter greatly. Let’s say
someone is filled with road rage, most likely their mind isn’t on
speed limits, laws, or the child playing in the street, but rather on
the person who cut them off nearly damaging their car. You now have
two unsafe drivers on the loose and neither are probably thinking
about the rules and laws of the road.
Steps
must be taken to reduce accidents and fatal injuries; these steps
must include drivers ed. Individual drivers must not only
have knowledge, they must also practice and obey these rules and
laws. I believe a solution to help reduce accidents and fatal
injuries are an increase in Public Service Announcements (PSA’s). I
have seen and heard PSA’s on this and other subjects. The really
good PSA’s grabbed my attention, gave me chills from their
messages, and made me realize some of my past actions were dangerous.
They put things into perspective for me. A specific example that
comes to mind is a PSA about tornado safety. Being from the
mid-South, we have a lot of tornados, especially in the Spring. I
remember when I was younger there was one PSA on tornado safety that
scared me into learning the rules of tornado safety, what to do,
where the safest place is, and how to protect myself! This particular
announcement included images of a home torn apart, a teddy bear
missing an eye laying in the mud and rubble, and a scared little girl
unable to find her mother. That scared me! I didn’t want to lose my
mom and dad in a tornado! From that point on, I took tornado safety
seriously at home and at school.
I truly believe if there were more PSA’s
around safe driving that were honest and open, even if that means a
bit gruesome or brutal, more people would take notice and hopefully
conform. With so many distractions today, the public needs to be made
aware of rules, laws, and consequences of not following those.
