Ways To Prevent Reckless Driving

Driver’s education is important for reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving. Young people typically start driver’s education around their freshman or sophomore year of high school. This formal instruction lays the foundation for being a safe and responsible driver. It educates new drivers on the rules of the road and their responsibilities as a safe driver, such as following traffic laws, knowing who has the right of way, and following the speed limit.

Wearing a seat belt, following the speed limit, putting your phone away, and not driving under the influence are just a few of the steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving.

Wearing a seat belt is very essential to prevent serious injuries or death in the event of a car accident. I remember watching a television show when I was younger where one of the characters in the show was rear-ended by a truck. When they were rear-ended, they were not wearing a seat belt at the time. Because of the force of the collision, it caused the person to be catapulted through their windshield. They suffered extreme injuries as a result of this. The severity of the injury could have been prevented if they had worn their seat belt. In the event of a car crash, the severity of the collision could be significantly reduced by following the speed limit. A lot of car crashes happen from distracted driving. It is important to keep your eyes on the road while you are driving so that you are constantly aware of what is going on around you. Driving under the influence is when someone is operating a vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol. By driving under the influence, you are putting yourself and others around you in danger.

In January 2024, I was driving back home from flag football practice at my high school. While I was on the road, a friend of mine was spam-calling my phone. When I eventually answered, she asked if I could drop her off at her house. She lives about 30 minutes away from our school, and I was very exhausted after practice. Even though I had the option of saying no, I told my friend that I would pick her up and drop her off because I see myself as someone my friends can depend on when they need help. So, I made a U-turn back to our school and picked her up. We drove for about 15 minutes until we got onto a major roadway in Wake County, NC, called Capital Boulevard.

Capital Boulevard is famously known for having reckless and impatient drivers. On this boulevard, there are 3–4 lanes in both directions, and I believe I was in the middle lane. The speed limit was 45, and I was going as such when, all of a sudden, a white utility van tried to merge into my lane without signaling. They attempted to speed up despite there being little space between my car and the car in front of me. Given that there was no safe space for them to merge, the white utility van ended up ramming into my right side, where my friend was sitting in the passenger seat. As a result of the impact of the reckless driver, I lost control of the steering wheel, which caused my car to swerve into the lane next to me. This in turn caused me to hit the car on my left side, which caused a domino effect with them hitting the car in front of them. Before we could even begin to gather ourselves and process what just happened, the white van sped off, and we could not get a picture of the license plate or a description of what the driver looked like on time.

Luckily, there was a police officer a couple of cars behind us who witnessed what had happened. He came up to us and asked us if we were okay. More bystanders came forward, saying they were also almost hit by the van that sped off and had to swerve to avoid it. The police officer was able to dispatch more emergency services to where we were. My friend was very shaken up by it, and I reassured her that we would be fine. The paramedics came and put me on a stretcher and had me in a neck brace because I was complaining about neck and spine pain. They took me to a nearby hospital, where I was assessed and later discharged. My car was damaged and was unable to be fixed. But had my friend and I not had our seatbelts on and not been alert and attentive to the road, the crash would have been way worse.

One can become a better and safer driver and help others by not texting while driving, adhering to speed limits and traffic laws, keeping a safe distance from other vehicles, and advocating for and educating others about the importance of road safety.