One Death Too Many

When
I was 16, one of my best friends died in a car crash. She was 18
years old and a high school senior at the time. She was one of my
best friends. I spent practically my entire summer before the school
year started hanging out with her, even though no one else really
wanted to hang out with me. She would often drive me around the city
in the exact same car that she ended up dying in. The most difficult
part of grieving her death was realizing that her life was taken in
such a sudden and arbitrary way. It hurts me to think about how she
died so young.

We
often don’t think of the risks associated with driving cars because
we use them practically every day. However, driving a car can be more
dangerous than things people tend to be afraid of, such as airplane
crashes or getting murdered in their sleep. According to the National
Safety Council’s 2018 data, there is a 1 in 106 chance that any
given American will die in a motor vehicle accident. There is a 1 in
296 chance an American will die from a gun assault and a 1 in 28,483
chance an American will be killed with a sharp object. Far too little
people died on airplanes in 2018 to even calculate the odds of such a
death.

After
looking at the statistics, driving can start to seem scary, but it
doesn’t have to be. The point is that many motor vehicle deaths are
preventable. Drivers ed is important because it is the key
to being an informed driver with the right skills to be safe. Its
goal is to prevent deaths like my friend’s. Many people claim that
being a safe driver is just “common sense,” but that is not
entirely true. Being a safe driver also requires up-to-date knowledge
of laws related to driving, including laws specific to your state.
For example, California has Eyes-on-the-Road laws which state that it
is illegal to write or read text messages while driving and, if
someone wishes to make phone calls while driving, they must use a
hands-free device.

The
most important aspect of driving is to always minimize distractions
and to make sure you only drive when you are in a mental state that
allows you to pay complete attention to your surroundings. My friend
crashed her car after she stayed up late into the night and drove to
work around 7 am. You shouldn’t be driving when you are sleepy,
angry, or anxious. Absolutely never drive under the influence of
drugs. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 29% of motor vehicle fatalities were caused by drunk
driving. One of the most crucial but also most neglected rules of
driving is to never be on your phone while you are driving.

If
more people appreciated drivers ed and took precautions
while driving, we could significantly decrease preventable motor
vehicle accidents.