Safe Driving

As most fifteen year olds do, they get their learner’s permit to start driving. You take the thirty hour classes, the test, and you get your permit. Everyone gives them the giant speech of safe driving, but what is safe driving? How do you participate in safe driving? Safe driving is what you are willing to participate in and what laws you are willing to follow.

Safe driving is a crucial part of just everyday living. Everywhere you look there is someone driving. Safe driving is not simply just paying attention and following the laws. It is what you are putting into to participate in those classes and driving laws. If you are actually going to pay attention in drivers training class, if you are going to pay attention to the laws, if you’re going to follow the laws in general. Paying attention in class is the most important part of learning to drive in general. They teach you genuine facts and the basics over all. I know in my drivers training class we looked at what unsafe driving can lead to, it was not a pretty picture. The thrifty hours of this class can be boring, and I thought they were boring too. They are there for a reason though, this class is detrimental to driving. There’s a reason you have to take it before you can take your permit test.

Driving laws are there for a reason. These laws are there to keep you safe, and to keep other drivers safe. Not only are they keeping the drivers safe. These laws are also keeping pedestrians on the sidewalks, or walking across the street safe. Vehicles can be used as lethal weapons and are very dangerous if you’re not driving safely or using it in a proper way. From an article written by Lela Cargill, one driving law that is most commonly broken is seat belts. “Tests show that wearing seat belts save thousands of lives.”(Cargill). There is no reason anyone driving or in a car should not have a seat belt on. The number one law broken while driving is speeding. Speeding can be extremely dangerous in the right conditions. Speeding is a major cause of accidents. Another law commonly broken is driving while distracted. “The odds of a collision and earth are 23 times higher for distracted drivers” (Cargill). That is a huge amount! You should be avoiding your phone, eating, drinking, and anything else that may take your eyes off of the road. One of the biggest things we were taught in drivers training was to NEVER drink and drive or be under the influence of anything while driving. “Over 40% of fatal automobile accidents are alcohol-related” (lifetips.com). Again another huge amount. This is almost half of all fatal automobile accidents. All accidents are dangerous and can be deadly but when any illegal substance is involved it makes the fatality rate increase dramatically. Drugs and alcohol impair your sense of judgment. It also impairs your visual field.

All automobile accidents happen for some reason. There have been a couple of driving experiences I have had, and it made me want to be a safer driver. Living in Minnesota you are bound to have icy roads. One day I didn’t realize how icy the road was. I was speeding to get home before my curfew, I ended up spinning on the highway and went into the other lane. Luckily for me it was later at night and there were no cars out. I drove safely the whole rest of my way home. I paid attention and did not look at the time. This is because paying attention to the road, going the speed limit, and actually making it home was my priority. Many others have had experiences like mine and even worse.

My experience and many others are why we should be driving safely. No one wants to get a phone call saying that their loved one got into an accident or worse. Things we can all do, including myself, is putting the phone down! We do not need to be on our phones when driving. Another thing we can do to keep us and others safe is not driving while under the influence. Being impaired and driving is very unsafe. Everything in your body has some type of impairment. Something that is more for you than other people, but still being safe, is wearing your seatbelt. Seatbelts seem dumb but they are actually there for your safety. Seat Belts have saved thousands of lives and can protect us during automobile accidents. There are so many other things you can do to be a safer driver along with so many things you can do to be an unsafe driver, but for the sake of your health and others, please drive safely.