Name: Jabril Johnson
From: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Votes: 0
One
of the most exciting parts of becoming a teenager is learning how to
drive. Driving frees us from the shackles of being driven around and
gives us the freedom to go when we want to. However, as technology
becomes a more prominent part of society, our eyes are slowly
becoming glued to our screens instead of what is in front of us, even
when driving on the road. The use of cell phones while driving is
causing our freedom to be taken from us. The good thing is that
drivers ed is here to teach us how to communicate on the
road.
Driver’s
education teaches us the universal language of the road, without it
deaths would skyrocket. Imagine three people in a room, all speaking
a different language. This language barrier would create a very
frustrating and ineffective interaction. The same goes for driving.
We have to speak the same language on the road to decrease avoidable
deaths. Drivers ed teaches us to communicate effectively
without having to talk. To lower the death rate while driving, states
have set up laws that prohibit the use of cellular devices while on
the road, but more can be done. I propose that there should be a
function on our phones that allow the cellular device to measure the
speed the user is travelling and disable the regular functions of the
phone from being used, other than emergency calls. That way the user
cannot turn the phone back on and can concentrate on the road. This
function would be something that the user would not be able to turn
off. Hopefully, with this new function implemented, it will reduce
the number of deaths and the number of car accidents.
Unfortunately,
I have had the experience of being in a car accident. The driver was
trying to make the traffic light and sped up, however he didn’t
notice that I was crossing the street on my bike. Meanwhile, I was
not paying attention to the traffic lights while I was on my bike
went out into the street when I wasn’t supposed to. The accident
was partially my fault because I was jaywalking. The person in the
car was speeding. We spoke different languages, broke the law, and
caused an accident. Fortunately, the driver did slow down enough to
prevent serious injury. Now that I have experienced this, I’ve
learned the consequences of not communicating on the road.
As
a result of my experience, I have thought of some ways to prevent
such experiences from happening. One way would be to shut off all
distractions such as cell phones and loud music. Most importantly
practice, the universal language of the road; because if you don’t
practice it, you forget it. These methods would also be accompanied
with encouraging others to do the same through sharing my experience
in a car accident.
