Driver Safety

Cruising in the neighborhood streets going twenty mph making sure that no little kid comes out running for a ball on this sunny day. You slow down as you notice that a car is pulling out from their driveway. You let them out and then continue on your way home. Now that you are further down some streets and you are now able to pick up the speed. The sun continues to shine down on your city. You are able to go across swiftly, since the roads to your left and your right had stop signs you did not have to be careful with stopping for other drivers. A truck going 70 mph all of a sudden is coming through from your right, it had skipped the stop sign. Pitch black. Your head is pumping and you feel something warm trailing down your back. Suddenly sirens are being heard and people are trying to open the door. Everything goes quiet. You were just trying to go home. Home to your family who needs you.

A considerable number of people are met with a similar fate. People who were out running errands or out with friends just trying to go home. However, they were met with a different fate. One that no one would be able to change.

Many people are taught how to drive either through family members or a driving school. It is important that everyone who wants to drive is to be safe on the roads, which is why driving school is important and the best option for drivers. According to Pearl, who is a faculty member of science and engineering at the University of Plymouth, “…males and females reported safer attitudes after attending the intervention, specifically with females reporting much safer attitudes compared to males.” Pearl made a study to see if the L2L intervention truly had any effectiveness towards driver safety in the real world and her study had concluded that driver education ( in this case intervention) does indeed help and better the chance of drivers being safer out on the roads. Alongside that it is truly important that people get taught about driving because they do not only teach you about driving of course, but also teach you the different road signs, what to look out for, and overall expands your knowledge on driving.

There are a number of steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths especially when it comes to driving. Before you even leave the driveway or even your household, make sure you or the driver ( if you are not driving) are not intoxicated with any alcohol or drugs that can lead to you to not be as aware of your surroundings while you drive. It is important that you have control of your body at the time of driving and that you are aware of your surroundings. Before leaving the driveway make sure your car works properly, your brakes work perfectly, windshield, wheels, the overall state of your vehicle should be decent enough to drive and make sure that it was not the car maintenance that caused the incident.

Now as you pull out of the driveway or the side of the street make sure there are no cars coming behind you. Back out slowly because you never know if there is a driver driving faster than the speed limit allowed for your street. Lastly, as you are driving make sure no pedestrian pops out of the street or animal, you should be going at the speed limit that is allowed per your street do not go double the speed limit nor half the speed limit.

I have never experienced a car incident first hand but my siblings had, my eldest sister was driving my brothers to their job and had been hit by a guy in the rear end of her car. Thankfully it was not a huge incident, but my brothers were not able to take the proper rest they needed because of the collision leading to it affecting them even worse at their workplace. I only ever experienced my brother driving faster but only ever when the roads are empty and he has gained enough experience to learn how to stop properly without it affecting his passengers.

I myself am starting to drive, my parents have gained trust in me the more they see me drive. I have driven in the morning, night, clear, rainy, and snowy days. The steps I myself have taken to make sure I drive safely especially for other drivers are making sure then when I am going to pull out of the side of the street that no one is behind me. Additionally, I make sure that all my mirrors are in the state that I need them to be, along with that I make sure that if it is dark I have my lights on. I make sure that I stay in the speed limit and am learning to keep the speed in control. However, some other measures I can take to make sure that I am a safe driver no just for myself and my passengers but also for other drivers, is to make sure that i look left and right, I depend a good amount on my peripheral vision since I can see both left and right without having to turn my neck but also I know it’s not the best especially with the fact that my peripheral vision sometimes plays tricks on me. Aside from me, I can make sure that when my family is going out that they are not intoxicated especially after some parties, and also telling them to be safe, though it’s just a simple sentence it can hold a lot of power especially, when I know that my family members do not always tell me what they are going through.