Be More Mindful!

Even as a student just learning how to drive, both the learning material about driving and the guidance of an experienced individual is incredibly important. The safety tips I learned were primarily from those who taught me how to drive- and as someone who used to get a bit nervous when first learning how to drive- it’s been incredibly helpful to have been educated on driving so I can stay safe on the road and so can everyone else. However, there are some special snowflakes out there that don’t seem to get this memo…and often it’s the arrogance and lack of awareness for other drivers that causes accidents and even deaths on the road. Driver education is important because not only does it teach you how to drive, but it also allows you to be a competent driver who respects road safety. But I think we’ve all been in a scenario where you look at the driver ahead or behind you and you ponder deeply, “How the heck did this person get their license!? Even chickens can drive better than them!!” And if you’re someone with basic decency and common sense, you do not want to be the person who drives worse than a chicken on a road.

This is where we should start brainstorming how we prevent these types of drivers from threatening others on the road. I believe if driver education focused more on drivers being considerate of the others around them then we could prevent a lot of accidents stemming from certain individuals who have a habit of only thinking about themselves. Thankfully, I have never been in an accident but a few years back my mom was in a small one. An angry lady had crashed into the back window of my mom’s car and then had the audacity to criticize my mom for being a safe driver on the road! It was quite infuriating but it really showed how there are people out there who couldn’t care less about the safety of other drivers and only think selfishly while driving which is why I think more lessons to prevent these types of drivers should be implemented. But because of that accident, my mom’s fear of driving up to a yellow light had increased as she wondered if another car would attempt to crash into her car when the stop light turned red while her precious kids were in the car with her.

Accidents, no matter how small, encompass damages both physically and mentally to a person which can travel with them for the rest of their life. The amount of selfishness some drivers have on the road is simply unacceptable as they put the lives of other drivers at risk due to their carelessness for those around them. As someone who is driving myself, steps I would take to be a better and safer driver is to always be mindful of others and practice traffic laws, but also actively learn the different ways to be safe on the road. I would help others do the same by informing them on how to be safe on the road, showing them how being mindful of other drivers is necessary, and giving tips to new drivers about road safety. If possible, more school activities about driver safety would also be great to educate young drivers on the importance of being a mindful, safe driver on the road. Giving tips from experienced drivers on how to continue being safe while also showing examples of what not to be mindful of for others on the road or participating in road rage can do to an innocent driver. Basically, we should teach them to not be like the angry lady and instead like someone who can allow a driver to have another peaceful day with no car damage…

Of course, it isn’t an easy solution to fix the problem of accidents, but there is hope that the more we can adapt and change our current methods of teaching drivers safety to the masses, the bigger the impact it will have. And we all know that the bigger the impact, the less accidents people can have! Overall, no matter how small a car crash or an accident, damages can still occur and it’s tragic to see this happen because someone decided to only think about themself on the road. I hope the more we can do to help increase drivers’ motivation to be a safe driver at all times, the better for all of us.