Leading By Example

It wasn’t until I read the description of this scholarship that I realized how dangerous driving can be. The statistics shocked me. They made me pause and think about all those times I drove past accidents, some more horrifying to look at than others. I realized that the drastic statistics of deaths due to driving need to be highlighted more. They need to be talked about in the news, and emphasized more in driver’s education classes. The classes is where it all starts. That is the opportunity to instill good driving techniques into new drivers. That is why it is so important to make these classes engaging and more accessible to the general public. This will help ensure that future drivers will start off and keep those good driving habits, therefore lowering the deaths caused by driving. Steps are already being taken to lower the number of deaths related to driving. Campaigns such as donttextdrive.com have been promoting the idea of turning off your phone while driving. They promote the idea that no text message is worth more than saving a life. However, this isn’t enough. There needs to be more campaigns to support donttextdrive. These campaigns combined will have a promising attack against the fight of dangerous driving.

There has been many times, too many times to count I’m afraid, that I have been close to being in a car accident, or have seen one of my family members drive irresponsibly. One instance that will forever be sealed in my mind is the memory of my mother asking me to hold the steering wheel while she responded to a text from her coworker. I was 15 years old, and had only been to one driver’s education class. I didn’t even know how to properly hold a steering wheel, much less know how to hold it from the passenger’s seat. I remember feeling extremely scared and nervous. I had never done this before, and we were on the freeway. The increased speed only heightened my fears of what could happen while I was holding the wheel. I remember thinking to myself that I never do this. I would never make my brothers hold the wheel when I learned to drive just so I could reply to a text message. I remember when we got home that night, I sat my parents down and I asked them to refrain from texting while driving, and especially refrain from asking me to hold the steering wheel while they did so. They appreciated my concern and vowed to never text and drive again.

The conversation that I had with my parents is just one example of a step drivers can take to help other drivers stay safe on the road. Expressing concern for your loved ones while they drive can help illustrate the severity of unsafe driving. Another great way to ensure better and safer drivers is to lead by example. I have a younger brother who is 14 years-old. He is just about to enroll in his first driver’s education courses. I want him to be a safe driver so every time that he is riding with me I be sure to practice safe driving habits, and tell him that I’m doing so. Leading by example is the idea behind this method, and I hope that by doing this, it will start a ripple effect towards my friends and family, causing them to be safe and better drivers, and to lead by example when they do just that.