Alive at 25

In the year 2020 there were 13.72 million cars produced in the U.S alone. Driving has become a part of everyday life for modern society and has made life a lot easier. The downside of cars being so accessible to us is that car accidents have become a leading cause of death and injury. According to Annual United States Road Crash Statistics, over 46,000 people a year die in car accidents. With proper education, increased regulation, and an increase in technology advancements in vehicles, this number could decrease.

It is extremely important that every driver is adequately educated to ensure the safety of everyone on the road. Taking a basic drivers education class helps drivers understand the rules of the road and gives drivers basic knowledge on how to operate a vehicle. If a driver is not properly educated, they are more likely to have bad driving habits and more likely to be in an accident. When I started driving, I thought I knew it all. I gained a sense of freedom that I had never had before, and I ran wild with it. A few months after getting my license, I was driving my friends late one night, coming back from a bonfire. I was late for curfew and still had to drop my friends at their homes, so I decided that I needed to speed to ensure that I arrived home on time. There was no one on the roads, so I started to drive faster than the speed limit. This poor decision resulted in me getting pulled over and getting a very large ticket. I mitigated that ticket and as a result, I had to do community service and take a defensive driving class. The driving class I took was called “Alive At 25” and was a very well-structured class. In this class, we learned the tools and techniques to help us drive safely and avoid dangerous situations. The class was 4 hours long. It was a class based in stories to prove various different points of safe and defensive driving. These stories have stuck with me to this day. Since the day I got that ticket in my sophomore year of high school, I have chosen to drive safely and carefully. I have not had a traffic violation since that time.

My driving has been a lot safer, and I give full credit to that class. In my case, the driving class truly made me aware of the dangers of driving, and as a result, I now practice good driving habits and understand the rules of the road.

There are several steps that could be taken to decrease the number of deaths while driving. I think the most effective way of stopping deaths from car accidents would be to create stricter traffic laws. Fear of violating a traffic law should be a deterrent from reckless driving. Many people today take a calculated risk. They risk that there won’t be a police officer around the corner, so they justify that it is fine for them to speed. Increasing the amount that someone gets fined or making punishments stricter would cause a decrease in the amount of driving citations. Creating advancements in technology could also cause a decrease in the number of deaths related to driving. If governments made it mandatory to have side airbags and forced braking, meaning the car brakes itself if you are close to a collision, then cars would be safer, leading to a reduction in the number of deaths related to cars.

There have been many times where I have seen someone drive unsafely. Two months ago, one of my close friends died due to driving while intoxicated. He was with two other people and took a sharp turn going around 90mph. He died on impact. This really had a dramatic impact on me and was a wakeup call to me and others in the community. During the memorial service, multiple people talked about the importance of driving safely. If my friend had not been intoxicated and driving that night, he would still be alive.

There are many steps that I can take to be a better and safer driver, as well as helping others become safer drivers. I must continue to prioritize safety and recognize the dangers of the road. I can also make sure my knowledge of driving stays up to date. I will continue to make sure my maintenance is up to date on my car to ensure my safety and others around me. I can help other drivers around me by being an example and helping spread awareness. People tend to forget that you take your life and the lives of others while being on the road and working to control what you can, yourself and your driving habits, can result in lives saved.