Drive Safe, Save A Life

When you reach the special age where you can drive you are excited about the new possibilities that are before you. You develop a new found freedom where you are able to take yourself to places new and old all on your own. It symbolizes a new beginning in your life where you can start to grow into the person you are supposed to be. We are told of the excitement of driving a car to a new movie that just came out with your friends, or of having the new freedom of driving yourself to school in the morning and sports pratices after school, of listening to our favorite music full blast thinking we are the coolest kids on the block, but not many people inform us just how dangerous this new freedom may be. As a society we need to step up and focus on the lives of our youth and how driving is a priveledge not a right. Our youth needs to be informed that although driving is exciting and allows us to get where we want to go in life, it is also something that should not be taken for granted and can hold great danger if not done so responsibly.

We all hear of car accidents happening and judge from afar, but we never think it can happen to us until it does. When I was a junior in high school, I thought that car accidents happen of course, but not to me. I felt invincible like I couldn’t be touched. The truth is however, that an accident can happen to anyone, at any time. I was 17 years old on my way to school. It had just snowed the night before and was very cold. Like any teenager I was only wearing a sweatshirt even though it was below freezing outside and snowing. I had my little sister in the front seat and we were listening to music much louder than it should have been. As I was driving up a hill that I had drove numerous times on my route to school, I hit black ice. My car started to fish tail and in a matter of seconds my car flew off the road over a ditch and was stopped by a large tree. My car was totaled and we were stranded. Thankfully neither of us had a scratch on us and we were just sore. No one tells you about having to file a police report, its something you are just supposed to know, but I didn’t. When I had to make the call to report I had been in an accident the shock finally wore off and I realized how quickly my life could have changed. How I could have injured my sister, or worse, how I could have been hurt or even died. When the towing company came to pull my car off of the embankment I had landed on I was told that I was lucky to be alive. The state police officer screamed at my mother making sure she knew that my car was not inspected and I was missing the breaks in the back of my car and that if I was his kid he would have been putting my safety before anything else. My mother got into her car that my sister and I were already in and we all cried thankful for our lives and overwhelmed with the possibilities of what could have happened.

Teen driver safety is an important public issue because students are not being informed of how dangerous it can be. They are being told of all the good things they can do by driving but not of the dangers that come along with it. When we disregard the dangers that are infront of us we are asking the universe to show us just how dangerous it can be. Teen driver safety is a public issue because it not only affects the immediate driver but the drivers sharing the road with them. These other drivers may have children in the car or may rely on their vehicle as a source of income. There is more at stake than what we are told as young drivers. The driver’s education needs to identify these dangers and put into the forefront of these young driver’s minds that accidents can happen to anyone and themselves and the people on the road with them are not invincible.

There are numerous challenges that teenage drivers face today. One of the main challenges is their phone. Phones are of great benefit when used correctly, but when in the car can be a deadly distraction. Teenagers are more likely to use their phones while driving than most. Teenagers use their phone to connect to their car and play music, to make phone calls and send text messages and although these actions may be illegal, we still see them take place every day. A clear message that highlights the consequences of using a phone while driving needs to be discussed with these new drivers before they begin driving. This message needs to be direct and truly make them understand that they are responsible for the consequences of their actions. This message would have the most impact coming from the police that arrive on the scenes of these accidents and having these conversations take place at school where a majority of their target audience will be. Another challege individuals in this age group face is peer pressure. New drivers take what the people around them say to heart. They do not want to drive too slow because other students may see this and make fun of them. They might drink because all their friends are and then get behind the wheel because they need to make it home by curfew. When you are a teenager what your peers think drive the decisions we make and sometimes a reminder is needed that actions have consequences and what we choose does have an impact on us and others.

DSpecific action that teens, schools and communities can take to promote safer driving is to acknowledge the dangers that driving can impose. Creating different clubs at school to promote safe driving and demonstrate the affects of reckless driving can help get students involved and understand the importance of driving responsibiliy. Communities can create programs that teach students about the impacts of unsafe driving as well as involve parents and guardians as well so that the message is reheard and can be retaught until the message is understood in its entirety. Safe driving is a nation wide project and if each community is able to create a safe learning environment and allow a space for youth to understand the importance of driving responsibly many lives will be saved as well as the roads being safer for everyone.