The Value of Safety While Driving

Leila Okorie

We take driving for granted. Driving is like second nature for so many people, which then causes us to become desensitized to the reality of driving. While driving is convenient and can even be a fun activity for some, it is also extremely dangerous. Yet, most people feel more uneasy in an airplane than driving a car, even though the number of automobile related deaths is 100 times more than airplane related deaths. People also still fear airplanes more than cars despite DUIs and texting while driving still being a common issue. Even in my own life, I have seen friends texting while driving, and I have had close family members pay the price for drinking while driving. Even I’m not perfect with my driving all the time, but I also recognize that I can and will do better.

This is why drivers ed is so important and should be seen as just as important as regular education. Proper education is powerful, as it can change the perspective of many people. If we add more emphasis to the dangers of driving, such as explaining statistics and describing tragic driving experiences, I believe younger drivers will begin to see the importance of safe driving. It is the same game plan that worked for cigarettes. Once more information was spread about the dangerous properties of cigarettes, and the use of cigarettes was no longer romanticized like it was in the past, the number of smokers in the United States drastically decreased. In addition, I think another way to decrease the number of deaths related to driving is to improve the public transportation system and make using it more popular. Public transportation is not very popular in the United States, but if more people used it, the number of drivers would decrease and so would the number of deaths related to driving. This would also help global warming, so it would be killing two birds with one stone.

As for myself, steps that I can take myself to become a safer driver are things like: keeping my phone out of sight while driving, keeping the volume of my music to a lower level, and turning my phone off or on silent while driving. In addition, I could serve as a model to my friends. By telling them I’m not comfortable with them texting while driving, and showing them what I do to become a safer driver, they will hopefully change their habits as well. This is because friends care about each other, and we often pick up the same habits as our friends. And once they pick up my driving habits, my friends’ friends will pick up their habits, and so on, like a domino effect. These are small but doable things that we can all do to make a difference, and make the roads safer for everyone. Driving is something a lot of us value, but it is important to also value safety while driving.