Reduce the Chance and Get Educated

Everytime I know one of the persons I care most about in my life is taking on the grey coloured path of chance, I get a terrible feeling in my stomach. I use the word chance, as all you can do is hope that the chance of there being an intoxicated driver, an animal, a medical episode, or even just a selfish individual on the road is slim to none as your loved ones drive responsibly down the path. All you can do is hope that the chance of your loved one joining the 1,745 canadian people that have died from a result of driving is as small as it can possibly be.

The importance of driver education in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving is evidently crucial. By providing individuals such as young teenagers that only have the thought of freedom in their heads, with driver education, those individuals can gain the necessary skills, knowledge and attitudes to enjoy their freedom living. Speaking from experience, the days leading up to getting my license were some of the most exciting and terrifying days I have ever experienced. The thought of the freedom that comes with being able to drive by yourself was the exciting half of my emotions, however, it was quickly shadowed by a big dark cloud of terrifying thoughts… will I be one of those 1,745 people that have died performing what is thought to be a simple, everyday task? However, after experiencing driver’s education, I felt a much desired ease in my fears. Simple fundamentals that can easily take someone’s life are the main focus of perfection in drivers education.

Steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving are simple, and easily doable to every person behind the wheel. Firstly, disregarding all substances such as drugs and alcohol while driving can reduce the terrifying statistics indicating that every day, on average, 4 Canadians are killed due to impairment-related crashes (MADD Parkland). Secondly, not only by disregarding substances, but also distractions. When I experienced driver’s education, the importance of limiting my distractions while driving was one of my biggest takeaways. This includes cell phones, friends in the car, and even a factor as simple as the radio. With distracted driving deaths increasing by 36% over two years in Canada, I believe these two steps are a good start to reducing the number of deaths related to driving (Mitchell). Furthermore, an additional step that can be taken is assessing your surroundings. This step can be divided into many different sections. These include assessing the following: your health, your vehicle, the weather conditions, and many more. Ensuring that you are of proper fitness to be driving will reduce the number of deaths on the roads. Taking the extra two minutes to do a circle check of your vehicle like suggested by Drivers Education will eliminate any unnecessary negative factors while driving, potentially saving the lives of both the driver, and others on the road. Finally, assessing the weather conditions before driving, especially in places such as Canada that experience harsh winters, can reduce the number of deaths related to driving. If there’s an app that will tell you what weather conditions you can expect on your drive, why not use it and stay alive?

I have been fortunate enough to not have experienced being in a car accident, but I have been in the car when friends and family members were driving irresponsibly. Witnessing this portrays a feeling of disappointment and fear in your stomach, as you thought you could trust this individual to keep you safe while traveling up to speeds of 100 km/h. Whether they were on their cellphones, or trying to turn on music, their full attention was not on the road. Though these experiences could have ended poorly, I am able to self reflect and learn from the mistakes of my peers. I am now aware of the endangered feeling I could force my passengers to experience, and have set a personal goal for that to never be an emotion while I am behind the wheel. The steps that I can take to be a better and safer driver is to limit my distractions, and remain alert at all times. Though I have confidence in myself to drive safely thanks to services such as drivers ed, I can never assume the same for anyone else on the road. Airing on the side of caution, rather than saying everything will be ok is the attitude I feel is necessary when driving. By reflecting this cautious attitude onto others around me, I feel it will help them become safer on the road as well. I understand that I will not be able to prevent all car accidents, but I feel that in circumstances such as driving, a little impact can go a long way. So long of a way, that it may save someone’s life one day.