The Responsibility of Driving

“Life is a question and how we live it is our answer” -Gary Keller. Every decision that people make, can cause either a negative or positive effect on someone’s life. I am a young woman who is learning to drive and exploring the world of the road, and I chose to learn how to drive in order to not be constantly reliant on others. I understand that driving is a risk, and I realize that there is a responsibility associated with it, so I make it a priority to learn how to drive responsibly each time I get behind the wheel. It’s impossible to predict when or how a tragic accident will occur, so all that we can do is do our best and hope that everyone around us does the same.

Driving is something to be taken very seriously, so people need to understand this. Car accidents have been happening for a long time, and the number of death has been unnecessarily high. There are approximately 34,000 deaths occurring annually, which is very devastating. We can control how safely we drive, so there is no reason why so many people should die in car crashes. As long as we are careful and fully aware of our surroundings at all times, the percentage of deaths from car accidents will decrease.

As a collective, everyone needs to be more informed on driving because life can be taken away so easily. Our choices can cause a ripple effect on the people who pass us by in life, so we have to do our part and try to go the right way. Word has to spread around about the amount responsibilities driving has. The rules of the road have to be common knowledge and need to be taught at a young age. Vehicles are evolving and we have to evolve our mindsets to better educate those around us about the world of being behind a wheel.

My most frightful experience is when our car’s brake stopped working one day for a few seconds while we were on the road, my mom yelled at me and my siblings to hold on tight. While the car sped up, my mom made a fast turn at a stop sign. Thankfully, there weren’t that many cars driving around us at the time. After she made the turn the brakes started working again. That story dealt with car problems but it’s an example of how easy for a car accident to occur.

For some reason, my family keeps having near-death experiences on the road due to others not being cautious on the road. I’m lucky to be around friends and families who drive safely and know how dangerous being on the road can be. However, just because I am in a car with a responsible driver, I’m not so lucky about who drives near me. I have been close to getting in accidents on highways because of other people being reckless and thinking they can do whatever they want on the road. A few months ago, while my mom was out, a car came from behind her and crashed her car at a semi-fast speed. Luckily, she is perfectly fine. Another time was when we were on the highway, a lady decided to change lanes very close to us and nearly caused my mom to drive off the road. Furthermore, another experience I have of car accidents is when an old friend of mine had a friend of theirs pass away tragically in a car crash on the highway due to a drunk driver. I wasn’t able to comfort my old friend but I could only imagine how heartbreaking it was for him.

Rules of the roads should become a necessary thing for young kids to start learning because our technology is advancing fast and we don’t know what the future has in store for us. And for beginners, they shouldn’t be able to start driving freely on their own once they start, since they don’t fully understand just how dangerous it is to be behind a wheel every day. I think beginners should have weekly small sessions where they drive around their house so that they can get comfortable being behind the wheel. They can progressively drive farther away each time they drive. But most of all, everyone needs to stay aware of their surroundings and be cautious because even if one is being careful, it doesn’t ensure that everyone else around them is as well.