KEEP DRIVERS SAFE!

As someone who has been in a very severe car accident, I believe that the importance of driver safety education is extremely important. In the year of 2022, I was involved in a traumatic accident that could have ended my life. It was a dark night and it was raining, I had been traveling a road that I wasn’t very familiar with that also had very little light. Suddenly my phone rang and I reached to pick it up, as I stumbled upon a very high train track, I noticed that I had underestimated the road and it was too late when I realized. The car had flipped several times and also caused me to have severe injury to the neck. Ever since then I have been as careful as possible when it comes to driving, especially driving at night.  I want each and every driver to take my story as a lesson and a message, distracted driving can often lead to very serious situations, and I have a few tips to provide as well. 

When it comes to the amount of deaths that were caused by car accidents, there is a very high number per year. Being educated on driver safety can be convenient and helpful, especially to young or new drivers. A good tip for driver safety is a drivers ed class. The high school that I attended had a required drivers ed course where we went over things such as signs, driver safety, what to do when in dangerous road situations and more. I feel that this class can be very efficient and help prepare young drivers to take behind the wheel classes, which brings me to another initiative that I have. Another great idea is taking behind the wheel classes before receiving your license. Although, you must have a learner’s permit before registering for this class, it allows future drivers to be guided and put in real life situations rather than using an artificial wheel, because as someone who did both I can definitely agree that behind the wheel is a completely different experience. 

Following these steps could reduce deaths in drivers education by a lot. If drivers are educated on safety before even receiving their license there is a greater chance that the knowledge that they have will stick with them in the long run because when they start driving they will remember the things that were taught to them beforehand. The main groups involved in accidents where they tend to be distracted by things such as phones and different forms of technology are teens. Since they are less experienced, they tend to be more easily distracted by these things. Phones serve as the biggest distraction for teens, so how can we keep phones out of the picture while driving? Some of the things that I do personally is keep my phone on “Do Not Disturb” which is a setting on your phone that mute and silences all notifications that may be sent to you while driving. This ensures that I won’t be distracted by my phone ringing and I also don’t have the urge to pick it up as I’m behind the wheel. This can avoid accidents and since it is illegal to text and drive it can also keep you out of trouble with law enforcement. Another tip that i use is keeping my phone in my purse out of reach, this way i won’t even be able to access my phone while driving. However, I only use this when I am traveling somewhere that is roughly about a 15-30 minute drive away. 

These are all good tips to take into consideration when you are driving or new to driving. Car accidents can happen so suddenly and so fast there is a slim chance of preventing it if it is too late. However, if you prepare yourself beforehand and lessen the distractions while you are driving the chances of preventing a car accident are higher. Another key takeaway is to always watch out for other drivers on the road. Just because you are being careful, other people may not be as safe on the road. You should always watch out for things like cut offs, high beams, speeding drivers and even  drunk drivers because a lot of accidents can be caused by drunk driving. Just remember to always stay safe and watch your surroundings because once you get behind the wheel the chances of you being involved in an accident increases, just remember all the things that you have learned thus far because the main goal is to “KEEP DRIVERS SAFE!”