The Worst City to Drive In… TEMPE

I might be the most scared driver there is. Which in fault means, the worst. I don’t know if I am supposed to say that in an essay about being a good driver. I have been driving for about 5 years now and have never felt less safe in a car. I took the driver’s safety course as my life depended on it, inappropriate? Well, I felt like the strangest person in the room because most of us were teens and thought it was just a class our parents made us take to get money off our insurance, but I wanted to take that class so badly. I have always been terrified of driving and I still am. I am not afraid of flying, riding in a train, walking, or using almost any other means of transportation, but driving is different. It is because I know how much more dangerous it is. I live in Tempe Arizona, one of the worst places to drive because of how many accidents there are. I learned to drive in Colorado, where the driving circumstances should be much worse, with the weather and terrain, but somehow have much fewer accidents.

In Tempe, there isn’t a day of driving where I don’t see an accident. It is so normal here and that terrifies me. I hate seeing accidents and can’t even imagine how scared the people that are in them are. Accidents are such a huge deal to me and scare me out of driving a lot of the time, but there are no other options in the city because the public transportation system is so bad. I must be able to get to school, my job, and my internship, let alone anything else I want to get to that isn’t on my daily schedule, and I must have a car here to allow me to do so.

Even though I am terrified to be on the roads, I still do it. That said, I try not to eat, talk, or be on my phone while driving to stay as focused as I can, but even I, the timid driver who stops at stop signs for too long, have broken those golden rules before. I think that driving is not taken as seriously as it should be, and I think that us all collectively being more aware of what we are doing would make the roads a lot safer. And instead of clowning on the person for taking that one extra second to merge over, we should be grateful that they aren’t weaving in and out of traffic. I know that road rage is real, and most people get it from drivers who are either timid or too confident on the roads, but we need to meet in the middle and jointly set “rules for the road”.

Now I don’t know what those rules should be because I do not see myself as the best driver and I’d rather follow these set rules. Also, when I say rules, I do not mean laws, I mean courteous actions. I just think that people follow rules that other people set more than laws sometimes. And people are not following the laws on the road so it’s time to try something new.

If there were to be messages spread about driving, for my generation I think the best way to get them across would be through social media platforms. I know TikTok is a notable example of people learning things that they’ve never heard of. So, if it is about the statistics of driving and especially about the specific cities people live in, I know that would really grab younger audiences’ attention. Another way to reach younger audiences about the safety of driving would be to host guest speakers at colleges. I go to Arizona State, and I know they have lots of clubs that would be interested in this type of talk- the dangers of driving in Tempe. There can be so much fun with education, especially with college students who like consuming knowledge. By making these talks intriguing to students and customizing them to each region, there will be more turnout.

Anyway, I plan to learn more about driving and become a more confident driver which will help me become a safer and better driver. I will always remember how important driving is and how it is a luxury, not a right. I am so lucky to be able to drive and should not take that for granted by being on my phone or eating while driving. I want to help not only myself become a better driver, but my fellow drivers, so by setting these goals and examples I think it can help others greatly.