Staying focused on the things ahead of you

Staying
Focused on the things ahead of you

In
2007, a Law was passed in Georgia that increased the education needed
to receive a driver’s license at 16. This law was called “Joshua’s
law” and it was thought up in the wake of a teen named Joshua Brown
who had died in a car accident years before. Drivers ed is
essential to being a safe and alert driver, which can keep people on
roads and out of hospitals. Drivers ed courses teach valuable
information that can save lives, and help people stay out of
dangerous situations. In many cases it has been proven that taking an
education course can reduce the number of accidents that take place
in ages 16-21. Being in a car accident does not sound as real and
common until you are in one yourself, or two. I was in the passenger
seat of my best friend’s car on the way home from Wednesday night
church, while joking and singing loudly to our playlist. My friend
became distracted and ran a red light at a busy intersection. She
quickly saw what she had done and slammed on the breaks which saved
us from hitting another car in their driver side door, we however
were not left unscathed. My friend had ran into the back corner of
the other car and spun onto the sidewalk, she was already panicking
when we had come to a stop. We were very lucky to both be safe and
unharmed and the same for the other car’s driver. Looking back, I
can see that the decisions made by both me and my friend to be normal
teenagers and paying more attention to the music than the road, could
have been deadly if we had been just a foot or two in front of where
we were. Today, where phones run almost everyone’s lifestyles, it’s
easy to want to quickly check your social media because you’re “at
a stop light” or there’s “ no one around you” but putting your
device away for your 15 minute trip is even easier. In the United
States alone, phones are involved in 1.6 million car wrecks. If we as
a collective whole, pay more attention to the road ahead of us and
the cars around us and less to the devices in our cars, then the
roads as a whole will be a safer environment. Because that Facebook
notification will still be there when you get to your destination,
and so will you if you drive safely and hands free.