Behind the Wheel

Every time you sit behind the wheel and make the decision to turn the car/vehicle on, you accept the responsibility and consequences associated with driving. Today with technology being a huge aspect in our everyday lives it is easy to get distracted behind the wheel. Whether you were just trying to change the song or answer a text, even looking away from the road for one second can cause a catastrophe. During my driver’s ed course, one of my teachers told us a personal story of how her family had been affected by a similar situation. Her dad was working on a construction site in the right lane of a road. A truck driver dropped his phone and reached over to grab it and by the time he looked up, he was right in the middle of the construction site and had her father over. As my teacher is telling the story with tears streaming down her face and horrific pictures plastered on the smartboard. It has been embedded in my brain that I will not use my phone while driving. One because I could never live with the guilt and two because I would never want to bring this type of pain to anyone’s family. The most important thing in driver’s education is to not only tell drivers what not to do but to explain to them why they should not do it. When people associate danger to themselves or others with an action, they are more likely to avoid it completely or proceed with extreme caution. So, as people get educated on the dangers of the road in driver education the number of deaths because of driving will decrease. Also, most participants in driver’s education are new, inexperienced drivers, it is important to get people into good driving habits early so that they are not trying to break bad habits later.

As everyone knows driving is a very dangerous action, however, it is necessary to many in their everyday lives. With the number of driving deaths on the rise, action must be taken to reduce the risk of driving. Drunk driving is a major contributor to many driving fatalities. One way we can reduce this is by bars or establishments having a policy where if a patron has over the legal limit (one drink per hour) that they must give their keys to the bartender or there must be a designated driver who has less than the legal limit. This will decrease the number of drunk drivers on the road and ultimately reduce the number of deaths. Another way driving deaths can be reduced is by cops giving out pricey tickets for not wearing your seat belt, reckless driving, and being on your phone while driving. These three actions are also major contributors to the dangerousness of driving. If expensive tickets are handed out for these actions people will avoid doing them because they don’t want to have to pay the price. There are many different ideas or ways to reduce the driving death toll, however, nothing will change until action is taken.

On Long Island, you can get your license after completing a driver’s ed course and then passing your road test after your 17th birthday. I have a late summer birthday and so I got my license right before the start of my senior year of High School. I was so excited I wanted to drive everywhere. One day in October, during an off period, my friends and I decided to run and grab coffee. I am moving into the left turning lane and all of a sudden BAM. A truck smashed right into my car. My friends and I all went flying in the car. Thankfully we all had our seatbelts on, and everyone was okay. The person driving the truck was impatient and didn’t want to sit in the line of slowly moving cars. So, the driver decided to cut across the median line and speed up to where the left turning lane started. I started to move over right as the lane started as well. So, when I moved over and was speeding up, he hit the back of my car. This was a learning lesson for me because I learned that even though I checked my blind spot and my mirror it is always good to double-check and to be careful. After all, even though I am doing the right thing, other drivers may not be. I will never forget the panic in my parent’s voices when I had to call them at work and tell them I had been in an accident. Since that day I have always been super careful about my driving, and I always double-check my mirrors.

I like everyone else, am not a perfect person, which means I am not a perfect driver. When I am in a rush, like everyone else, I will step on the gas when I am close to a yellow light so I can make the light. I will go a little bit over the speed limit if I am in a time crunch. I also listen to my music very loudly in the car which sometimes doesn’t allow me to hear what is going on outside my car. These aren’t things I am proud of doing as a driver, but I will admit I do them occasionally. To be a better and safer driver I will leave my house earlier to account better for travel time so I am never in a rush, which will allow me to take my time and arrive safely at my destination. I will also make sure my music is at a reasonable volume. As for helping others be safe on the road, I can do this by giving gentle reminders to my friends or family when I am driving in the car with them if I see “bad driving habits”.

Driving is a dangerous action; many people partake in it every day without knowing how dangerous it is. It is our job to educate others on ways to be better, safer drivers to not only protect ourselves but to protect others.