Stop and Think

The number of car accidents is skyrocketing most of those accidents being in young kids who get their license. They go out with friends, they don’t pay attention to the road, they are looking at their phones,or even changing the radio station and taking their attention away from the road for 5 seconds. Those things we do mindlessly in the car result in accidents which are more than likely fatal.

When learning about driver’s education it is vital to understand the dangers of drivers and how to avoid it. When we go to driver’s ed it allows the instructor to inform kids on what to do when you’re hydroplaning, slipping on ice, or many other things which can help reduce the amount of deaths that occur in accidents. Also, when you’re in driver’s ed when they show you those awful real life videos of accident deaths, survivors, or families that have been impacted gives an effect to the student to make them realize if they do the things they see the person in the video is doing wrong they could end up like them. So, those videos really make a student think about what they are doing when driving and making better decisions in turn resulting in less deaths. I believe stricter laws should be in place while driving that hold bigger penalties if you are doing something dangerous while driving. To reduce the amount of deaths that occur because of those things. Such as cell phones in 2018 2,841 people were killed in car accidents that happened because of someone using a cell phone. In 2020 another statistic found that 1 out of every 4 accidents is caused by someone using their phone. This shows our penalties for using phones while driving is not effective enough. The punishment for using a phone while driving can range from 20-250 dollars. By making these punishments and law stricter it will result in less accidents caused by things that are distractions. Other things that could help would be if the car dealerships that sold the cars gave suggestions that people should get their car looked at before every fall/winter season to make sure the car is in proper working condition to deal with harsher weather.

I thankfully have not personally been in a car accident, but I’ve been in the car multiple times with either friends or family who have driven recklessly. When I was younger I just vividly remember my uncle wanting to mess around with us so he started swerving side to side, lane to lane in the car. And i just remember thinking how dumb it was and what if something bad happened. Or even recently with friends I’ve noticed who just got their cars want to look cool in front of each other show off. At school we had two kids doing donuts in the parking lot to mess around, then one kid lost control and smashed into two parked cars. Which caused a huge mess with the administration and two students. For me personally to make sure I am a safe driver before I leave where I am parked make sure my phone is connected to the bluetooth, so if anyone calls me instead of picking up my phone and becoming distracted and looking away I can just click a button. I can also check over my car before I leave by making sure all my tires have good enough tread and that my car is in good shape. By doing these things and even vocalizing that I do them to my friends and family they may think it is dumb and silly. But my goal would be for them to think about why I do it and maybe even persuade them to start doing the same things.

When people get distracted while driving or don’t even pay attention to the condition of their car while driving it results in deaths by accidents to increase. If people stopped and thought about what they were doing and consequences behind it they wouldn’t do it, but the consequences don’t come until it has been done.