Driving Tomorrow’s Youth

Driver’s education is important because as history has taught us, education is the most important thing in learning from our mistakes. Driving can be a fun, rewarding experience, but like most things that “go really fast”, it has it’s downfalls. Learning more on this topic is not about inciting fear of the danger, but in prevention of the accident entirely. Driver’s Ed courses should be a mandatory class in high school and for any company that employs workers who drive to to their job.

Along with this, I believe it would be most beneficial to learn more about the basic functions of how a car works and how to take care of your car. So many people drive with faulty cars, unaware of where their next danger lies, simply because of their own ignorance. Unfortunately, this is the case for many new and experienced drivers on the road. There needs to be an education that focuses on the driving aspect and the car aspect.

Another topic to mention on driving safely is the idea of awareness. We must spread awareness of the effects of distracted driving or driving under the influence. Driving is one of the most common things that people need to multi-task with. It’s important to be aware of your surroundings at all times and understand that the only one that knows what’s going on with your driving is you, the driver.

I’ve had several conversations with my friends, classmates, and even my own mother at times on what safe driving looks like. Do not text and drive. Do not drink and drive. Do not constantly look away from the road for any reason. If you do not feel safe to drive or in a good headspace to drive, then do not drive. I understand that there are so many factors when it comes to life, but there are even more that we are in control of.

A big one that I think should be touched upon as well is speeding. So many people do it and treat it as this careless thing but it’s not. The speed limit is there for a reason, to keep you and the people around you safe. There is no job, no hangout, no date that will be worth losing your life or taking someone else’s. People speed because they’re chasing time but time will outlast you every time. It’s not safe and it’s not caring.

Personally, I have only been in one car accident. It happened during a rainstorm at a stoplight. As most people understand when driving in slippery conditions, it’s harder to see what’s in front of you, as well as move your car from point A to point B. This is why we must take precautions in external conditions such as this. However, the person behind me was not maintaining a safe distance from my car during the rain and failed to take in account the space between my car and theirs. When I stopped for the redlight, the car behind me attempted to do so as well. This was not done at the right moment and their car slid into mine.

My entire car jolted and for one singular moment, I closed my eyes, afraid of the impact. Luckily, that was all that happened. My car was jostled by the crash, but everyone in their respective vehicles were fine. But it spoke volumes of the importance of safe driving as I was made aware of by the other driver that the reason they were unaware of their surroundings was because they were distracted taking a phone call. Inside, I was a little furious at their careless statement, but we figured it out and parted ways amenably.

I was shaken by that encounter, wondering if anything had been different, would I have been more or less okay? And not only me, but the other driver as well. I wanted to warn them to be more careful next time, to think about their actions, the kind that can affect multiple people as well as themselves, but I didn’t. This is another one of the problems. People who are afraid to speak up before they get crashed into.

Driving is a serious matter and one second where you choose wrong, can mean life or death. I know people who have lost much worse than their car in an accident, and people who will never drive again.

Driving is a wonderful thing and opportunity that we have but in order to be deserving of it, we need to take the steps to make sure we are 100% confident behind the driver’s seat and ready to educate others as well. We need to be understanding of others as well as understanding of ourselves and the roads. It’s important that we take the time necessary to be better, safer drivers.

You’re in charge of your own fate, all you have to do is take the wheel.