Driving as it Should Be

Driving as it Should Be

By Johan McGee

Driving is one of the most dangerous things that you will do in your entire life. Every time you leave your driveway, there’s a risk that you may never return. A few years ago, my dad and older brother were involved in a head on collision when someone ran a stop sign. As my dad was taking a left-hand turn, this person ran a stop sign because he was texting while driving. He rammed the front end of our truck and absolutely totaled the vehicle. By some miracle, both my dad and brother survived the accident and walked away with no life-threatening injuries. This accident was completely preventable and was caused by the negligence of another driver.

In 2017 alone, there were 6.5 million crashes nationwide that resulted in 37,000 deaths. Out of all age groups, teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 are the most likely to be involved in a fatal accident. The only way that we can lower the amount of driving-related deaths is through drivers ed. For almost three years now, I have been taking drivers ed courses and practicing under my parent’s supervision. My first few times driving were a little hair-raising for all of us but as time went on, I have been learning at an exponential rate. From everything that I have learned about road safety, the most important thing is defensive driving. You always need to be aware of your surroundings and of problems that may start to unfold so that you have the time to react.

As Mel Brooks famously said, “Hope for the best and expect for the worst.” When I’m driving, I am constantly scanning other drivers while trying to anticipate what they are going to do. On multiple occasions, this has saved me from getting in an accident because I was prepared to deal with somebody that wasn’t following the law. Even by following the law yourself, you are not safe from others that drive dangerously. Also, texting while driving should have a hefty fine so that we can reduce the number of preventable accidents. If you need to send a text that badly, just pull over so that you aren’t risking other peoples lives, not to mention your own.

By educating young drivers, we can help them to drive defensively while also anticipating what other drivers might do. Many accidents are preventable and if restrictions to getting a license were tightened and we educated younger generations on how to drive safely, we could reduce the number of accidents that occur. Some countries require an entire year of driver training instruction before their young people can apply for a license, Sweden being one. If everybody was required to go through a drivers ed course, our roads would be much safer because drivers ed is, in fact, a matter of life and death.

Sources

https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-highway-safety

https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html