Behind the Wheel

Driving is a big responsibility. Whether you are behind the wheel or in the passenger seat it’s your responsibility to be safe and keep others around you safe. Behind the wheel, there are many many rules to follow to ensure the safety of people. Even with so many laws, regulations, and practices, there are still more deaths caused by irresponsible driving than there are of soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.

Driving education is just as important as any other kind of education. Just like anything else, you have to learn and practice something to get it right. If driving education isn’t important we wouldn’t have people study and handbook and test with someone else in the car to make sure that someone was safe to be driving on the roads. You need to have learned the rules and regulations of driving to be as safe as possible when getting behind the wheel. Some step that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is more thorough education. Something else that could help reduce driving-related deaths is offering more driver’s ed with different learning styles because some people have trouble with just sitting down for an hour reading or listening to someone talk about how to drive or the rules of driving.

I apparently have been in a pretty bad car accident but I have no recollection of it in any way. I have had many family members however who have been in car accidents due to them or others driving irresponsibly. My sister-in-law however had an aunt who unfortunately lost their life due to someone being irresponsible and not thinking about others who had people waiting for them to come home. At the end of the day every time someone gets behind the wheel they are putting people or themselves at risk. Still, it’s our responsibility to learn how to be safe and know about the kind of situations that can happen and how to deal with them in the safest way possible. Some step you can take to become a better driver is to take your time. Many people rush into learning how to drive and many even do it illegally but this can put people at risk and no one wants to leave their house hoping they’ll make it back safely. If you take your time and really practice and understand it can really help when driving. Another step you could do to be a better and safer driver is to put away all and any distractions. For example, people’s phones tend to be pretty big distractions and a big part of driving-related deaths. Whether it’s a call or even just seeing your phone light up with a notification or text, One split second could greatly affect your own or other people’s life. Let’s say you decided to go for a quick drive and you think it’ll be fast so fast in fact that you don’t even put on your seatbelt and head off. You place your phone on the dashboard without thinking and while driving your phone slides over when taking a turn. All it takes is one important notification or call and all your focus is suddenly on your phone that you can’t reach. Now you are distracted and not aware of your surroundings and as your lean over to try to answer whatever popped up on your phone the light goes green and without a second thought you push the gas and end up not seeing the car that was also going and next thing you know your car is totaled and someone is hurt or worst-case scenario someone has to get a phone call about their loved one not being able to come home due to an irresponsible driver. It’s always best to know and be safe when driving because there is still always a chance that something might go wrong and even with being such a safe and educated driver you could still be in a crash because of someone else’s carelessness and in that case, at least you’ll be able to know your did everything in your power to be safe to everyone when driving and you could even help and share what you know to get others to be safer and more responsible when on the road

At the end of the day, every time you get behind the wheel you are responsible for your safety and for the safety of everyone around you. You have to be considerate of others who also drive and keep in mind that they have people who are waiting for a loved one to get home to give them a big hug and a kiss. Don’t be the reason someone has to get the news that they will never get one more hug for someone they loved. Be educated, be safe, and Drive safe.