The importance of Awareness

I am 21 years of age; throughout the five years of my driving record, I’ve learned may things about real world driving both in the urban and rural setting. Currently I am a college student at Texas Tech University. My hometown, Grapevine, is located in between Dallas and Fort Worth. With the assistance of Driving Education and Personal Experience I have learned may ways to keep myself alone with other lives safe on the road. Through this short essay I will describe many important ways to keep driving casualties to a minimum.

Like most individuals I obtained my driver’s license at the age of 16, I took the normal drivers Ed course in my hometown. Drivers Ed isn’t something to pass through with ease, every individual who takes the course whether it be online or in person should pay attention to the rules of the rode and how to keep themselves and others safe. Over the course of my education, I learned about the rules, signs, and proper ways to tackle driving on the road. The best way to learn behind the wheel is practice, starting with driving an individual is overwhelmed by the rules. This is why the instructors test, and the individual must demonstrate that they are properly prepared for the task of driving. Starting behind the wheel, the instructor teaches the individual the controls of the vehicle and slowly starts to drive, typically in a parking lot. This small step is imperative to the safety of driving. At the end of rivers Ed my instructors showed me disturbing crashes, this scared me and showed me the dangers of not being alert on the road. Whether driving in an urban or rural area an individual should be alert. The individuals that were not alert ended up causing harm to themselves or to others on the road. Drivers Ed scared me; it scared me to the point that once obtaining my license I was nervous driving on the Highway especially on large lane highways. Where I live to get to Dallas or Fort Worth you must take large 4-5 lane highways that are terrifying to the new driver. Over time and with plenty of practice I began to adjust to highway driving and with honing my skill of awareness while driving it became easier to avoid mistakes that could cost lives on the road.

Although I improve my awareness every time I drive, I have experienced and accident myself. Coming back from a festival in a rural area I was in a four-car pile-up. Thankfully no one was injured during the accident. My car was the third on in the line and it had to be towed off and was totaled. All the other cars in the accident were minimally damaged. The car in the front of the line came to a stop on the highway for no reason. This caused everyone behind it to break hard with not much time. Due to my car being an older model with older breaks my car was unable to stop in time, the same went for the car the rear ended me. Even with my intense practice on large highways and quick reaction time the accident was unpreventable. My story proves that accidents can happen anywhere at any time. This is why the awareness of driving is so important. Lives are on the line when entering a vehicle and if there is a lack of visualization of surroundings then lives could be lost. As someone who has been in an accident, I can tell you that the way instructors told you about the dangers of the road, using scare tactics to promote their point of safety was necessary to the new drivers. The road is a dangerous place to be unobservant and could cause lots of harm.

Through the Education system for driving and my personal experience I can rightfully say that driving safety is no joke and should be practiced every time you are behind the wheel. Drivers need to be aware of what is occurring around them and be able to react with what they have been taught and what they have practiced. After my accident I was scared to get on the Highway again, luckily through the help of my friends and family I am more aware on the road then I ever was. Having the experience of a terrible accident has opened my eyes to the true meaning of observing and reacting while on the road. I hope sharing my story has awoken many individuals to practice road safety every time they are behind the wheel.