Improving the Roads With One Driver at a Time

The importance of driver’s education in reducing the number of deaths while driving is highly important.Whenever we go out driving we are not only putting ourselves at risk but others as well since we are in a 3 ton, steel vehicle driving at high speeds at times. Even driving at a relatively low speed is still putting others at risk. For that it is important to always follow the posted speed limit instead of going over & under(unless otherwise to do so such as approaching a school zone) because if you go over the chances of you losing control & failing to stop on time is higher. If you go under someone going the speed limit could rear end you since you weren’t going the correct speed. Another would be to always check your surroundings & that includes mirrors & blind spots. The reason for this is you want to look out for any type of hazards ahead & on the sides. There could be a child, animal, or debris on the road at any point of time so always pay attention. One last thing before I leave off this topic is to always maintain your vehicle, especially your brakes & your seatbelts. Don’t be driving then suddenly you can’t stop, you crash into another vehicle, you fly out the window then now you could’ve potentially died even though this could’ve been all prevented.

The steps I feel that can reduce the number of deaths related to driving is to put your phone on, do not disturb or turn off your phone to avoid being distracted while driving. The texts & calls can wait & if you really need to use your phone drive to a safe area & put your car in park. Better to do that rather than costing not only your life but others too. Plan ahead & leave a couple minutes early to go to your destination. Doing this will help you avoid being stressed about being late & speeding. You may think going 5+ miles over the posted speed limit will get you there a lot faster but news flash it won’t. It’ll only get you there 1-2 minutes or couple of seconds faster & think about it, is your life really worth driving at a high speed just to arrive 1-2 minutes faster? To add on to this please get ready before you leave. Don’t be trying to put your make up or cologne on while behind the wheel as I said before, drive to a safe place, put it in park & do whatever final adjustments on yourself if it’s that important. The big one I’ll say is to not drive while under the influence, I would assume the impaired person thinks they can drive but of course we all know they can’t. If you plan on drinking & need to go somewhere please take an Uber, cab, Lyft etc etc you get the idea. If you’re at home you could give your car keys to someone that you trust & know they won’t be drinking to hold them for you to avoid you attempting to drive.

I have been in a car accident myself twice not that it’s a good thing but it happens. The first time it happened was when I was 12(now 21). I was attempting to cross the road where there is no crosswalk, looked both ways then everything went black when I woke up I was under a car. To keep it short & sweet, I had my body out too much while looking both ways to avoid being hit by a car(ironic) but once the car did hit me I went unconscious, rolled under a parked car & woke up with my dad begging me to wake up . Anyways I ended up breaking my skull, right leg, left arm, couple of ribs, nose, bruised my lungs & had internal bleeding from my stomach. How exciting. My other accident happened last year in November 2023 when I was making a left unprotected turn thinking the coast was clear and it turns out it wasn’t. When I was making the left turn halfway through it I saw this car coming towards me, tried to press on the gas to go faster to turn but that wasn’t enough. I was hit on the driver’s rear side thankfully not directly towards my body.My car spun out from the impact into the opposite side of traffic. The oncoming traffic came to a stop to allow me to move my car out of their way. I was panicked so that moment of time I called my older sister to come to the scene instead of 911 felt more safe with her being there. The driver of the other vehicle that hit me called 911, law enforcement came and gave me a pretty hefty ticket & honestly I’ll take that hefty ticket over jail time. In the end myself or the other driver weren’t hurt thankfully but of course it could’ve been way worse. Anyways learn from me, don’t stick your body out too much, always check, proceed with caution & be certain everything is clear including your blind spots.

The steps I can take to be safe on the road would be to be better at yielding to traffic. It can be nerve racking when you have someone behind you that is impatient & wants you to go even though you know it’s not safe to go yet. With that being said go whenever you see it’s safe to go & don’t go because someone is putting pressure on you. To add on to this something that I used to do after the car accident is I wouldn’t make left unprotected turns instead I would go wherever there was traffic light to make a left turn since I didn’t want to cause another accident. What I can do to help others be safe on the road from all of this is to mainly be aware of your surroundings, plan ahead of time, avoid distractions(Pull over & deal with whatever is distracting you), & proceed with caution when making unprotected turns(meaning you don’t have the right of way). Ultimately of course this all falls on the driver’s responsibility to be aware that they are not the only ones at risk but others too.