Name: Leo Williams
From: BEVERLY HILLS, MI
Votes: 0
I
couldn’t wait to get my driver’s license. It symbolizes maturity
and freedom. I drove whenever I could with my permit so that I could
earn the ability to go wherever, whenever. When I passed my test, and
went to the secretary of state to file the paperwork and take the
picture, I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to drive. However, I
didn’t realize the dangerous new world which I was entering. While
driving is very beneficial to most people, it is also much more
dangerous than most realize. In the US, an average of 34,000 people
dies annually from driving, more than the total deaths in the Korean
war. We all need to do our pat to drive safe, so everybody can make
it back home.
The
first step in safe driving is education. We need to know and
understand the safety laws and guidelines set for driving. If we all
know how we are supposed to drive, and how to react when the
stoplights go out, we will eliminate deaths caused by ignorance. For
example, a couple of years ago round-a-bouts were added to a major
road nearby. We had never had roundabouts in this community before
and accidents in that intersection sky-rocketed because drivers
simply didn’t know what to do. Today, there are virtually no
accidents in those roundabouts because people learned how to drive in
roundabouts.
Education
eliminates ignorance-related deaths, and care reduces accidental
deaths. Accidents will always happen, it’s human nature. However,
we can reduce accidents by driving with care. If we each decide to
stop texting and drinking behind the wheel, drive in the speed limit
while wearing our seatbelts, we can virtually eliminate accidents.
This happens by each of us, individually, changing our own behavior.
While one person driving safer may make a small improvement, if each
of us change our driving habits, we can change the world.
I
have a friend who was walking home from school last year. Two other
students decided to race down that street. One of the students lost
control of his car, swerved onto the grass, and hit my friend,
smashing his skull into the windshield. Luckily, he survived with a
broken leg, concussion and major bruising. My friend, and the driver
were lucky to not become a statistic, however my friend shouldn’t
have to be lucky to be alive today, and sadly 34,000 people every
year aren’t that lucky.
When
I got my license, I entered a dangerous world, but armed with
education on driving laws and guidelines and the ability to drive
with care and attention, I am doing my part to help make driving a
little bit safer.
