Both Hands On the Wheels

Ashley
Ly

BOTH
HANDS ON THE WHEEL

“Both
hands on the wheel and eyes on the road!” This would be shouted by
my parents NUMEROUS times when I started driving. Every new driver
may think that this saying is melodramatic and that driving with two
hands is unnecessary; however, it isn’t over dramatic at all.
Undoubtedly, multitasking isn’t recommended when driving. No text
message, call, Snapchat video, Instagram photo, or changing the song
on the radio is worth ending someone’s life. Never.

The
impact of education is almighty powerful and burgeons knowledge in
everyone. Undeniably, drivers ed is paramount to reduce the
number of car accidents. If a driver doesn’t understand to fully
stop at a stop sign, or which lane they should be in, this would
endanger everyone around them. Without my proper drivers ed I
received at my high school, I’d surely not know what to do on the
road, and enough as that sounds frightening, this is a reality for
some drivers. Thus, incoming drivers need to absorb information
utmostly regarding driving.

To
reduce the number of deaths related to driving, I would make driving
tests more similar to real-life driving, instead of just a few turns,
making the highest speed the driver will go to is 25 MPH, and
parallel parking in the end. Hopefully, the driving course can be
more complex, with traffic lights and stop signs, and make other cars
be present on the course to allow the incoming driver to realize how
the roads truly are.

While
in the car, I often encounter friends and family staring into their
phones, taking a selfie while the sun is out and providing “perfect
lighting”, or taking a Snapchat video to let their friends know
that they are “out for an adventure”. No post is ever worth
ending someone’s life.

To
be a better and safer driver, I have to be more aware of the events
occurring around me and minimizing distractions would let me focus
solely on the road. Certainly, I need to listen to my parents’
advice of “Both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road!” Us
human beings tend to source multitasking as a positive and productive
activity; however, this is not the case while on the road. To help
others become safer on the roads, I’ll sternly scorn at my friends
or family who end up getting distracted behind the wheel and will
advise others to do the same for all their friends and families.
Using social media properly, I could draw digital posters with bold
text and statistics that warns people of the dangers of driving on
the road with distractions and share them with the public and
hopefully eventually become widespread. If I can save one life on the
road, that will eventually lead to saving despair for many others.

What
I find utterly mind-blowing is that someone’s life can end or be
changed forever because a driver was on their phone scrolling through
Instagram, or texting their friends, or plainly by reckless driving.