An Easily Attainable Goal

My entire life, my parents have drilled one fact into my head: driving a car is no small privilege. They’d remind me time and time again, “When you’re behind the wheel, you’re driving a two ton weapon”, and they never let me forget it. As a child, I had a cousin pass away from a drunk driving accident when he was in a truck with four of his friends. Of the four, all but he were drunk, and he was the only one who passed away. I may not have known him very well, but I remember the way my family mourned him. The day of watching my sister and dad leave for his memorial will always stick with me. My sister kept the invitation to his wake pinned on her wall until she moved out a few years ago; I know his legacy will never die, but he was only 19 years old. I’m older now than he was when he passed, and he won’t get to live because of one stupid decision he and some friends made. If he had not gotten into the vehicle, especially knowing they were drunk, he would have maybe had a family by now. He had so much life to live, and it was stolen from him.

Truthfully, I was terrified of driving after this, and sometimes that fear still strikes me strictly because I know how many people pass through driving school who haven’t been properly taught. Driver’s education in school is not something that is required in my state, and I sincerely wish it was. Until I was able to go through the testing for my learner’s permit and study for the exam, there was so much information about driving that I was completely unaware of, and a lot of the information I know is still not widely known by many of my friends and family. If driver’s education was improved and required in Arizona, I firmly believe that many of the deaths and accidents would be reduced and qualmed. The easiest way of preventative action possible for people is to simply be educated of what the risks are and how to prevent them, but in Arizona driving tests have such little restrictions that it feels as if they are allowing people on the road who have no business being behind the wheel. Furthermore, I believe that traffic laws should be firmer, and that the repercussions of driving recklessly should be increased tenfold.

Personally, I have never been in an accident because of how safe and careful drivers my parents are, and I made a vow with them in highschool to never get in a car with someone I don’t trust behind the wheel. As I’ve grown older, I find myself having to refuse entering a vehicle with more people than I ever have, as many of my peers in college have horrible habits when driving. Many of them drive under the influence of marijuana, and even more of them text while driving. In a way, I’m the “mom friend” of my friend groups, and I find myself having to explain in toddler-terms why this is bad for them, because they simply do not think about it. Even if they do, some of them just do not care either, and I have to explain that driving is not just about them. When they are on the road, there are hundreds of other people being put at risk because of their negligence. I refuse to lose more people I love to reckless driving, and I do what I can to keep them from getting behind the wheel when they are in no condition to drive. On occasion, I’ve pulled up traffic laws to shove in their face in the hopes of the law threatening them straight. Truthfully, I have even tried to use the “mom friend” guilt to keep their heads straight to hopefully show them the error of their ways. Thankfully, it seems to work well enough.

To be a better driver myself, I have made a recent vow to minimize the distractions in my car, even if I never text and drive, there are plenty of other distractions that could put me at risk. The biggest one I’m implementing right now is to make sure the volume of my music in the car never exceeds a level high enough that I would not be able to hear other vehicles, and that if I have other passengers in my car, that my eyes never leave the road, even during conversations. These feel like small ways to implement cautious driving, but they are the biggest problems I have noticed myself falling into. No one is perfect, and even if I put every aspect of my efforts into making sure I am never distracted, that is simply impossible. Never being distracted is an unrealistic dream, but being distracted as little as possible is absolutely attainable. It is attainable for everyone, and I hope that with the possibility of better education, statistics, and widespread awareness of inebriated/distracted driving that the death count will continue to drop. No one should lose their lives due to the recklessness of others, nor should they lose it in accord of their own. Driving safely is an easily attainable goal, and I will do everything in my power to stick to my promise of keeping myself and others safe on the road.