why driving safe is important

As a child I would be in the car with my parents, I would see some of my older cousins driving and in my head I would be like “wow thats super fun I can’t wait until I start driving”, and now that I’m 17 years old I see whats it’s like to be the driver. I feel like every kid is super eager to get their permit or drivers license and experience the new freedom and responsibilities that comes with aging. Driving is a great responsibility, which is why properly getting educated before driving is extremely important.

Cars affect our lives in many aspects, a car can be the most beneficial thing in your life or can be the worst thing to happen to someone. On November 16, 2023, 6:56 am I was hit by a car. I was walking to catch the bus to get to school, to catch the bus I needed to wait until the stop light turned red at the intersection to then cross the street. As the light turned red I proceeded to start walking to cross the street then boom, all of the sudden I felt an impact of a truck hitting me, the driver was attempting to run a red light! As I’m on the ground I look around and see the shattered glass from the headlights surrounding me. The first thought in my mind was that there’s really no way I got hit by a car, turns out I really did. I was not hurt in any type of way so I was able to get up off the ground, as I’m getting up off the ground the feeling of pain and embarrassment was overwhelming. Everyone’s eyes were on me, random people started surrounding me including the driver. He was very apologetic, naturally because he was in the wrong.

Being hit by a car has affected me very much in such a short period of time, this situation has changed the way I go about my everyday life. For example, I have a never ending fear of crossing the street, I know that since taking the bus to school is my only form of transportation that it is inevitable that I will have to cross the street. But every morning at 6:56 (the time my bus is supposed to pass) there’s always a pit in my stomach thinking “What if something like this happens again?”, what makes it even worse is it’s something that was completely uncontrollable on my end. Another way that the situation has been affecting me is by having to deal with the injuries of the accident such as scrape wounds & road burn, ultimately I feel like the situation has been very traumatizing for me. Everyday I replay the situation in my head trying to piece together how someone can be so careless with something that one moment of irresponsibility can change someone’s entire life.

With that accident happening to me it makes me realize the importance of driver’s education. Driver’s education not only teaches you to stop at a red light but it also teaches you how to properly manage a very important piece of machinery. In most drivers Ed courses it educates you on the serious effects of irresponsible driving & how it can not only affect you but other people around you as well. In my personal opinion I feel as if everyone should take a drivers education course before they get behind the wheel to know just what they’re getting themselves into and to practice safe measures, especially because with this piece of machinery your life can change in a flash.

Since I am 17 and do have my drivers license, I feel as if taking a drivers education course was extremely helpful in educating me on just how important safe driving is. When you are driving sometimes you realize that some people are just not good drivers and/or haven’t been properly educated. So that’s why when it comes down to me getting hit by a car it was a crazy realization coming from one who has been thoroughly educated. As someone who has been properly educated through my drivers ed course I would have never tried to run a red light, this further proves to me that the driver was not properly educated. So now I have to reap the consequences of his miseducation. As you’re on the road you realize that you not only have to drive for yourself but you have to drive for others since there are so many misinformed drivers. When I first started driving and I seen my first car accident in front of me I was like wow, I was on the edge of my seat but now since I have over a year of driving experience it has become normalized to me because of the simple fact that people are miseducated & that should not be the case. I genuinely feel as if everyone applied the information from their drivers education course and followed the laws, the roads would be safer for everyone. Every year thousands of people pass away from car related deaths when it could be zero if people understood the effects of driving and practiced safe driving habits.