The Importance of Being a Safe Driver

The amount of deaths from dangerous driving has been extremely high. The deaths from driving in 2003 were 36,000 people, which is much higher than the deaths of the 2003-2011 Iraq war, totalling just over 4,000 people. Many driving accidents and deaths happen because drivers are uneducated. Many people tend to ignore the thought of consequences and decide to do what they want to. By educating drivers the United States can become safer and the accident levels can drop. Educating drivers will save Americans in the long run and short run. It will be able to change the way that people think when driving.

Driver education is very important in reducing the number of deaths. The way that drivers learn is by taking drivers-ed classes. This teaches them everything they need to know about driving and being safe while driving. A person has to take the class before they can even get on the road. This helps prevent accidents by uninformed and uneducated drivers. If a ten year old kid, with no knowledge of driving or road rules, went driving, they could get in a bad accident or end up hurting someone. It is important to be educated and understand how driving and road rules work in order to keep deaths low. There are some things that we cannot control while driving, like other drivers, but we are able to control how educated we are and what we can do to stay safe.

There are many different steps that can be taken to lower the amount of accidents and deaths related to driving. The first one is to be educated. This is the most important step. Being able to know what is right and wrong, and know what you are doing, is very important. Another step is to be cautious. While this may be an obvious step, it is extremely important when it comes to driving. Always keeping your eyes on the road and being alert are some of the ways you can be cautious while driving. Another would be to stay at the speed limit. Going over the speed limit can be dangerous because as you speed up, you can start to have less control over the vehicle.

Car accidents can be extremely hard on the family and friends that have to deal with the loss or injury of a friend or family member. Personally, I have never had anyone that I know or love get into a car crash, small or serious. However, I have been a witness to the aftermath of many car crashes. One in particular that I remember was a motorcycle crash. It was the day before school and my grandma was taking my sister and I out to lunch. We were driving on highway 61 when we saw flashing lights and many police cars. We pulled over, since my grandma is a nurse, and saw the commotion. The man that was driving the motorcycle crashed into a truck and was thrown onto the road. What made this worse, was that he was not wearing a helmet. This caused him to have more serious and detrimental injuries than he would have had if he had been wearing a helmet. An ambulance came and brought him to a hospital where he was treated. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple of days later because of the extent of his injuries to his brain. This accident showed how he was being irresponsible by not wearing proper head protection while driving. This one mistake cost him his life and shows how important being careful and alert are when driving.

There are a couple of steps I can take to become a better driver as well as help others. I would say that I am already a pretty good driver. I am pretty cautious and aware of other cars as well as my surroundings. I do think that I could improve on taking less risks. I tend to turn pretty fast or take left turns when cars are coming at me pretty fast. Luckily, it is easy for my car to speed up quickly so I have never had anything bad happen to me, but it always could happen. A way to improve on this is to wait until I know for a fact that it is safe for me to go and there are no risks involved. A way that I can help others is with constructive criticism. I am often described as a “backseat driver,” but I think that it can be helpful at times. When driving with my friends or family, I can tell them if there was anything they could improve on or things they did well on. I also have some friends that are just learning to drive or are about to get their licenses. Something I can do for them is give them tips on driving. I can use my experiences to help others become safer and better drivers.

In conclusion, having knowledge about driving is a very important thing. If we start better educating drivers, the accident levels will be reduced and lives will be saved. Driving is something that we all learn to do and continue to do throughout our lives so it is important that we know how to be safe when doing this. Having safer drivers will lead to a safer America.