The Importance of Safe Driving

Sharks are terrifying to many people across the globe due to the depiction given to them by very successful Hollywood movies such as one of the most infamous ones, “Jaws.” As intimidating as sharks look in the water, this fear ends up being an irrational one as statistically speaking vending machines hold a higher number of deaths per year than those of sharks. The same goes for driving too, and unlike vending machines, holds a much higher fatality rate across the world. What’s interesting about this, however, is the very low “fear” or caution people have when driving as they have gotten too comfortable with some of the dangers on the road; most of which are self-inflicted as it is their driving practices that could be putting themselves and others in harm’s way. To put that into perspective, around 46,000 deaths occur annually in the United States alone. It also proves to be the leading cause of death in teenagers according to the CDC, as “accidents” include those happening on the road as well as off. So, with all of this in mind, we now see that driving should be handled more seriously than sharks in the media, and draw more attention to the dangers people are exposed to every day on the road. With any problem that arises in society, the first solution to fixing it is education on the matter. Fortunately, there is another program called driver’s education that is mandated in most states across the United States for those who wish to get their licenses. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln found that these classes proved to be effective as teens who did take driver’s education classes were in fewer car crashes compared to those who didn’t. I believe that this is due to the knowledge presented about the harm done by two of the biggest leading factors of car accidents; cell phones and drunk driving. 23% of all car crashes in the United States involve drivers being distracted by their phones. I experienced this myself in high school as I was in an accident due to the person behind me being on their phone. It was a classmate of mine and as we were exiting the school zone, traffic was backed up due to the light staying red. My classmate, being distracted by his phone, didn’t see this and ended up hitting the back of my car. With this costly percentage of crashes being due to cell phones, state governments across the U.S. are now enforcing punishments for drivers being seen with cell phones in their hands while driving. I believe that the more states that implement this law, and the more discussions had on this matter in driver’s education, the rates of crashes involving a phone will decline significantly. Another big part of car accidents and fatalities that I have seen are drunk drivers. Out of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States, around 31% of them involved drunk drivers. In social media today there seems to be a glamorization of drunk driving and how thrilling it can be. There are memes all over the internet about the need to grab one’s keys the second a drop of alcohol enters their system thinking that they’re simply going on a joy ride and nothing else. However, all humor is lost the second they realize the consequences that come with drunk driving. Drunk driving has always been a serious topic for me as growing up my uncle struggled with the serious addiction that comes with alcohol. One day he went to the bar alone and while driving back drunk, he didn’t end up making it home but rather missed the stop sign and crashed head-on into a tree. Luckily no one else was harmed, but my whole family still mourns his death to this day, 11 years later. Even if these reckless drivers don’t care what will happen to them, they should at least care about the pain they will put their loved ones through. So that they will never have to get a phone call in the middle of the night to receive the worst news of all, just as my family did all those years ago. Going to driver’s education taught me the importance of safe driving and what can happen if you don’t. I think it would be beneficial to everyone on the road if more teens were taught these lessons in the classroom instead of experiencing them in the real world just as I did.