One Bad Turn: Let’s End the Cycle

When I was in the fifth grade, I got into a serious car accident that would forever change my viewpoint on the importance of being a safe driver. It was a school night and we were returning home from the grocery store when my mom received a text message from one of her friends while we were at a stop sign. My mom decides to check the message briefly but ends up looking at it while making her left turn. With her eyes glued to the phone, she accelerated forward but forgets to tun the wheel enough to fully complete the turn. Noticing that we were heading straight into a wall, me and my little sister began to panic, screaming “MOMMA!! WATCH OUT!!!” But it already was too late, we ran head first into the wall causing the car to soon be totaled. It was terrifying. Getting in this accident made me realize how quickly a driver’s negligence could turn into a catastrophe. For if it were another car we ran into, things likely would’ve ended a lot worse. Thankfully, by the grace of God, none of us were injured in the process and we were able to learn from the experience.

One of my biggest takeaways from this experience is that we should never attempt to multitask while driving. I mean think about it, driving already requires plenty of attention and coordination as it is; you have to stay at the right speed, stay in your lane, check side mirrors to switch lanes, along with much more. Adding another task to this, for instance: texting, putting on makeup, or looking for your wallet, only tremendously increases the amount of focus and coordination needed to keep you safe and alive. It would be best to wait until your car is in park to do whatever it is you must do. When I think about it though, it doesn’t make much sense to me how so many drivers fall victim to this trap of distracted driving, considering it is one of the key principles in Drivers Ed– the course required to get on the road in the first place.

If more of us were to retain and implement our knowledge from Drivers Ed, we’d have significantly less deaths related to driving. The importance of Drivers Ed lies in its ability to educate us on how to drive safely and efficiently. They teach you to took both ways before making turns, something that if not done, could very well end in another driving death that could’ve been easily avoided. They also teach you about all the causes of driving related deaths, such as drunk driving, reckless driving, and distracted driving to name a few. But there are many more causes of driving deaths, even some that aren’t in the driver’s control, inclement weather and night driving to name a few. It may be scary to know of all the ways your driving experiences could make a turn for the worse (no pun intended), which is perfectly normal, driving can be very dangerous when not done right. The good thing to know is that Drivers Ed teaches us about all of us these possible outcomes, and equips us with the knowledge and skills that we need to ensure our safety, as well as those on the road with us. I am not perfect though, and I sometimes catch myself not being the best driver I can be.

One of the mistakes I sometimes make while driving is forgetting to put on my seatbelt. Thankfully, there is a loud noise that constantly reminds me that I should put in on, but I’d be lying to say that I haven’t ignored it sometimes. Something I’ve done to start being better with this is putting on my seatbelt before I even turn on the car, this way, I won’t have to worry about it while I’m driving. This is also one of the things that we learn in Drivers Ed, but I am not perfect and even I mess up from time to time. I also tend to drive faster that what the speed limit says, one of the biggest driving mistakes. Recently though, I noticed that I tend to do this the most when I’m listening to loud music that gets me hype. Once I realized this, I began to turn down the volume of my music while I was driving, and my speed came down with it as a result. I want to set the standard for safe driving, so that nights like my 5^th grade nightmare happen less.

By actively exemplifying what it is to be a safe driver, we can help each other in reducing the number of driving related deaths that occur yearly. Through Drivers Ed, we can learn how to become safe drivers for ourselves, as well as our communities. We often take for granted the times we’ve gotten away with driving negligence. But like my father always told me, “Don’t let it happen to you for you to learn.”