Ways to increase drivers safety

As is with most topics, this is quite a controversial topic. Driver safety comes down to two things, the driver and the vehicle; there is no way around those two facts. A car can be equipped with the best features for driver safety, but if the driver decides to pay more attention to the radio, a conversation with a friend, or, what is happening more often, being distracted on their phones, those features will not amount to anything. And if we have the best driver possible; no accidents at all, never on their phone, music turned down low, and the driver is barely talking to their passengers whilst driving, and their vehicle is not maintained, there is still the fact that the vehicle can get out of control or even break down while on the road and kill the driver and passengers. With all of these factors playing a part in the safety of drivers, and their passengers, it is critical for drivers’ education, there also needs to be proper education, not only on how to drive but also on how to keep a vehicle maintained.

As is stated previously, the importance of driver education is an absolute must. If drivers education courses are paid attention to, and in some cases, repeated on a need basis, the amount of driver ineptitude and driver negligence will go down, which would reduce the amount of deaths as a result of driving. With drivers’ education, there also needs to be education on how or when to have your vehicle maintained. The education on the maintenance of a vehicle may seem mundane or even trivial, but it is crucial. If drivers were educated on the effects of poor tires more thoroughly, the effects of not changing the oil of a vehicle, and even on how modifying a vehicle will reduce the performance of the vehicle, then there will be even fewer deaths due to driving. Unfortunately, even the best drivers’ education course will not be infallible, there will still be deaths on the road, whether it is due to poor road conditions, unfortunate external accidents, or drivers removing their attention off of the road for a split second could all result in the death of a driver or a passenger.

I thankfully have never been in a vehicular accident, although, my younger brother recently has been in a car accident on June 9th of 2023. This accident was due to the fact that he was driving distracted. Distracted driving is one of the causes for most of the vehicular accidents, and my brother was texting while driving. The vehicle he was driving had just over 100,000 miles, he was driving in optimum weather, the vehicle was just recently maintained, but it was, in the end, due to failure as a driver that lead to this accident. Thankfully no one was injured or killed in this accident, but my brother caused over 5,000 dollars to the vehicle he was driving, all because he couldn’t wait a few minutes, or even pull over into a parking lot, to send a text. This accident, if it didn’t open my brother’s eyes, opened my eyes to the possibility of severe injury, or even, in the worst of cases, death can occur due to distracted driving.

The steps that I could take to become a better and a safer driver would be staying attentive and vigilant while I drive, whether I am driving on a sunny clear day, or dark stormy night, or a long and lonely highway. I will stay off of my phone while driving and keep my focus on the road, and let a small little text wait until I get to where I am going. I won’t let my passengers distract me from being a cautious driver and keeping them safe. I will even use my experience as a Vehicle General Service Technician to keep my vehicle well maintained and in peak performance, in order to ensure that not only will I have control, but that the vehicle will also continue to run the way that the vehicle was intended to be run. It is with these steps that I will ensure that not only I will be as safe as possible while driving, but those around me will also be safe. I will also do my best to help those around me when they are in need of assistance to keep their vehicles up to standard to keep them safe as well.

I know that there are a lot of factors, whether it is a vehicle not being maintained, unsafe road conditions, or even looking away from the road for only a second, that all play into safe driving, and even death while driving, but most of these scenarios all come down to the driver. The driver is ultimately responsible for whether or not the vehicle is maintained, whether or not the driver takes a break from driving to stretch their legs and get some rest while they are tired, and even the driver’s responsibility to not let a conversation, a pretty view out the window, or even their phones distract them from the multiple thousand pound vehicle that they are in control of whilst behind the wheel. And with this knowledge, I will not become distracted, and be the best driver that I am capable of becoming. Thank you for your time and consideration of reading this essay.