Name: Tyler J Netek
From: Conroe, TX
Votes: 0
The significance of enforcing and teaching proper driving methods
through Drivers Ed courses becomes challenging to put into words due
to its inherent requirement. However, it is incredibly necessary to
communicate, and these essential precautions can save thousands of
lives. The sheer number of deaths as a result of careless
decision-making while driving is terrifying, and something assuredly
must be done to bring attention to such an issue. As someone whose
dad almost died, resulting from reckless decision making on the road,
I have a lot of personal stake in this issue. In my father’s wreck,
it occurred in the form of drinking and driving when a drunk kid and
his girlfriend t-boned him back in 2007. Because of this high school
kid’s selfish and misguided judgment, my dad’s truck flipped four
times, and he became hospitalized. I thank God all the time for his
luck in surviving and the fact that he was wearing his seatbelt
because it saved his life. Because of him wearing his seat belt, a
safety precaution he took on his own accord, his injuries remained
minimized, and he survived. This little detail which he could have
very easily neglected, allowed my siblings and I to grow up having a
dad. This sole fact was something that could have quickly been taken
away from us had he not exercised such precaution.
Taking Drivers Ed seriously, and realizing the potential
ramifications that could result from not doing so is something needed
by new and current drivers. In my case, I had to have something so
tragic occur for this to become instilled into myself and my family’s
lives. If there is a way to reach others and communicate the
seriousness of this topic, that may be necessary for the future. Not
everyone has been so directly affected by the negative implications
of unsafe driving. It’s difficult to pinpoint how exactly this would
need to be established to be useful, but I think in today’s world its
commonplace for young drivers to only utilize safe driving methods
until they have earned their license. From there, everything learned
is tossed aside and taken for granted in most cases.
As mentioned previously, my father’s instance is one of the hundreds
of thousands, and many were not as lucky as him in the case that he
survived. My father means the world to me, and I was only in first
grade when the whole scenario happened. I haven’t had the most
carefree life since then, and things would have been monumentally
more difficult without his presence. I don’t drink or smoke, and I’ve
yet to be in a wreck or be charged with a ticket after driving for
over three years, which are both valuable things I attribute to such
a trying yet necessary time in my life.
I believe that the steps that need to be taken pertain to the
seriousness and focus required to drive on roadways. These
precautions are too often devalued in favor of being accepted and
impressing others; two things which can result in the ruining of
lives for merely trivial reasons. What needs to be done is a
reissuing of how necessary these steps are in preventing future
tragedy. Similarly to the anti-cigarette commercials always present
on TV, there needs to be a modern and well executed PSA campaign
which can effectively relay not only the need for precautions and
safety when driving, but also inform them of the danger and penalty
they may face should they refuse to comply and have the misfortune of
being the cause of an accident because of this refusal. I believe
that this can be also be done in a much less expensive fashion
through a mass collaboration of young people through social media.
While the internet has many negative implications attached to it,
people with a common goal can utilize the internet through social
media movements and campaigns to spread ideas through the masses.
There are many much less great jokes and ideas pressed on by the
masses on an everyday basis, so what is preventing us from shining a
spotlight on something of the utmost importance in today’s societal
landscape.
