The Importance of Safe Driving

Why is driving safety so important? Everyone drives, right? So why is it such a big deal of learning how to drive safely? When teens turn 16, they grab their license, and drive like they are immortal, and are not aware of the importance of safe driving.

It is so important for young teenagers who want to obtain their license to know how to drive safely and responsibly. This not only teaches them how to be safe on the road and how to drive properly, but also can reduce numerous deaths in motor vehicle accidents. In 2023 alone there were 19,515 deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents. We can prevent these deaths, especially in teens, by educating them and showing the importance of safe driving. Drivers’ education has provided education and information on how to drive properly and safely, which has decreased those deaths by 3.3 percent from 2022 to 2023. If we continue to teach our teens on the importance of driving safely, we can reduce those numbers even more.

Some steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving include continuing having drivers ed programs that are required to obtain a permit/license. We can also teach those teens on the severity of driving, and how driving irresponsibly can change your life, or even worse, someone else’s life. We need to teach them how they are not invincible, and anything can happen to them. Along with having parents properly educate their children and to monitor their teens after getting their license to make sure they are being safe. We have laws in place that keep teens safe as well, as some of them being, only 1 non-family member can be a passenger in your car, until a certain number of months have passed. This can reduce deaths in car accidents because it decreases the chance of distracted driving. It is also highly frowned upon to text and drive and is illegal in the first year or two to be on a phone while driving (using Google maps, talking on the phone etc.) This is an especially crucial law for new drivers because texting and driving is one of the most common ways of deaths in an accident. This will restrict teens from phone usage while driving.

In my 17 years of life, I have seen two family members taken away from me by irresponsible drivers. When I was only 4 years old, my uncle had been killed in a drunk driving incident. His friend was drunk, and made the worst decision of driving my uncle home. Later in their drive home, my uncle’s friend had crashed the car, and my uncle was ejected from the passenger seat. His friend survived, but my uncle did not. This is just one example of the importance of safely driving, and making good decisions when it comes to driving. More recently, my cousin who was 17 years old, was killed by yet another drunk driver. His life was taken far too soon, and someone who had no dignity for other people’s lives decided to get behind the wheel while drunk and knowing that they should not be driving. This is another reason why we need to teach teens on how to drive responsibly, because teens sometimes make questionable decisions, and sometimes cannot tell between right or wrong. Which is why parents and Drivers Education programs are so important in teaching teens on drivers’ safety.

Some steps that I can take to be a better and safer driver could be reducing the number of times I drive when I am tired or anxious. I tend to drive when I am feeling anxious or tired, and I need to limit the number of times I do that. It can endanger my safety and others’ safety as I am not able to be as attentive as I would if I was in my normal state of mind. Some steps that others can take to practice safe driving can be reducing phone usage and phone distractions. I know many people who text and drive daily, and it is a big danger to not only them but to other drivers on the road.

Overall, it is extremely important to learn driver safety and to drive in a safe and responsible manner. We can take steps to enforce safe driving. Especially in teens, they need the most education in driver safety as they are new drivers, and have very little to no experience. These teens need to know the potential dangers of driving and need to know that there are consequences to their actions