Drive Safe, Drive Smart

Drive Safe, Drive Smart

The engine sparks to life. Excitedly, she puts on her seat belt and adjusts the mirrors. Finally, she can drive to the mall herself! As she drives along to the mall, she hears a ping. She receives a text from her friend wondering when she will arrive at the mall. Quickly, the girl diverts her attention to her phone to answer her friend. It takes her only a couple of seconds to reply back but in that time, she loses her focus on the road. Looking up, she swerves to avoid a car and crashes into a tree instead. The girl tries to call her phone for help, but as she is reaching for it, there’s darkness. Most teenagers look forward to having their driver’s license. It means freedom to go wherever they want and do whatever they want. With this newfound skill comes responsibility though. As one learns how to drive, they must also learn how to be a safe driver. Drivers education classes can help create defensive drivers on the road, which leads to fewer deaths on the road. One should consider taking drivers classes with a trained individual, so the individual can teach the new driver how to create a safe driving environment for others around them. An important way to prevent driving deaths is to turn off phones and avoid using them unless parked safely on the side of the road or parking lot. Nowadays, many cars even come equipped with Bluetooth, so if a call is unavoidable, one can speak hands-free and still focus on the road ahead of them. Some phones even have a function where they will automatically silence all messages while one is driving in the car. While technology has proved beneficial for drivers, those electronics are not always reliable. Drivers should focus on ways to stop using their phones while driving instead of depending on innovations designed to prevent phone usage. So, with driver’s ed courses, students should be required to complete a course highlighting the consequences of distracted driving. Drunk driving is another reason there are so many car related deaths. Cars should have a function to determine whether one is sober enough to drive, depending on the legal alcohol limit of each state. For example, a breathalyzer of sorts could be attached to a car vent, and one would have to breathe in it before starting to drive. If the alcohol limit in a driver is above the state’s alcohol limit, then the breathalyzer could connect to a driving service, such as Uber or Lyft and give the driver a ride home. Although the breathalyzer could malfunction or the driver could choose not to use the breathalyzer, this idea further reduces the chance for someone to drive unsafe. Thankfully, I have never been involved in a car accident but I have seen my loved ones involved in irresponsible driving. Sometimes I see my friends texting while driving, and I feel scared to be in the car with them. They are putting not only our lives in danger, but other people around them as well. Fortunately, they have not been involved in any accidents. Accidents happen in the blink of an eye, and one’s life can change drastically from driving irresponsibly. Those critical seconds when one removes their eyes off of the road can be the fine line between life and death. Some steps that all drivers should take to be a safer and smarter driver is to practice defensive driving. If one sees someone trying to pass them, they should not speed ahead of them; instead they should remain at a constant speed and focus on the road. Also an equally important practice is to be alert on the road constantly. If there is a car reversing, and they don’t see someone behind them, that person behind the car should brake and wait a good distance away until the car is gone. The biggest safety measure to practice is to wear seatbelts. In the case of a car accident, one has a better chance of survival while wearing a seatbelt because the belt will prevent them from flying out of a car. Overall, one should practice vigilance on the road because one can never be too safe while driving.