We Can End These Trends

We Can End These Trends

Paul Walker, an actor from the famous “Fast and the Furious”
movies lost his life to speeding. Sam Kinison, a standup comedian
lost his life at the age of 38 for driving while intoxicated. Billy
Martin Jr, manager of the New York Yankees lost his life from drunk
driving Christmas night. Ryan Dunn, stuntman for MTV’s Jackass
lost his life due to intoxicated speeding. Bessie Smith, a Blues
singer lost his life due to distracted driving. Lisa Lopes, a singer
from TLC lost her life at the age of 30 to speeding and distracted
driving. Steve Prefontaine, an Olympic runner lost his life at the
age of only 24 to intoxicated driving. Actor James Dean lost his life
to reckless speeding. Do you notice a trend?

Every year, thousands of lives are abruptly ended due to automobile
accidents; these accidents could have been avoided and these lives
could have been saved. The first, and most obvious rule in safe
driving is do not drive under the influence. Not only are you
endangering yourself, but also others around you. If that isn’t
enough to convince you maybe the penalties are: you could go to jail,
have to pay thousands of dollars, lose your license, and have to
attend substance abuse classes which you must pay for. Another
obvious rule is do not text and drive. 1 out of ever 4 car
accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving, that
text can wait.

You should always obey the speed limit. You are not in a
“Fast and the Furious” movie, highways and public streets in the
real world are not a place to speed. It is also important to make
sure your mirrors are adjusted properly. Making sure your
mirrors are adjusted properly eliminates and reduced blind spots,
decreasing your chances of having an accident. In addition to
adjusting your mirrors, you should also make sure that your
headset is positioned correctly. This will minimize painful head
injuries in the case of a collision.

When driving near larger vehicles such as trucks, avoid their
NO-Zone areas, there are the areas where you can not see the
driver of the truck and their mirrors, in these areas the truck
driver can not see you either. Always avoid driving when tired.
If you ever find yourself in a position where you feel fatigue while
driving, talk to your passenger, take a pit stop, or pull over and
take a nap. These are only a few of many tips you can follow to stay
safe on the road and help save lives. Together we can lower car
accident trends, that could have been avoided in the first place.