Drive Safely!

Learning to drive is a pivotal part of an individual’s life. For some it marks a step into adulthood, allowing for more personal freedom. For others, it is a necessity that allows them to function in their daily lives from going to work, to road trips, to getting groceries. Driving is such a helpful tool that many could not live without. Sadly people put their lives on the line every time they get behind the wheel. They trust that their vehicle will get them from their starting point to their destination safely. For some, they never reach their destination point and instead, their lives are lost along the way.

From young to old, driving should be a benefit to society but ends up being the tool that takes away individuals’ lives. This shouldn’t be the case. There are so many ideas of what could minimize driving deaths. For example, there should be more billboards put up to warn people not to text and drive. There are so many billboards about entertainment or food advertisements, but I don’t see enough billboards about safe driving tips. On every street, especially on highways, there should be signs and billboards reminding people not to drink and drive or text and drive.

Texting and driving have become so normalized it can be seen on television shows. There needs to be more serious consequences concerning people who text and drive and people who drink and drive. It may seem overzealous to increase charges for texting and driving, but something so seemingly simple could take somebody’s life in an instant. All of their hopes and dreams are immediately gone. How much is a life worth? Surely it is more valuable than sending a 2-minute text message. These kinds of offenses need to be taken more seriously because taking a life is no small fee. Police should be chasing people they see texting and driving just as much as they chase people speeding.

Once the consequences of crimes become more severe, crime will become less common. If the charge of texting and driving was raised by $1000 every time the offender was caught, there would be fewer offenders. Furthermore, the people who are caught texting and driving should be forced to put a camera on their dashboard for a month, and they would be monitored to ensure they don’t repeat the offense. If the individual were to text and drive during that month they would be charged double the first ticket. The price of the ticket would double every time the person receives the ticket. People, especially Americans, value their money, so if they were charged more for driving-related crimes they wouldn’t attempt to do it as much anymore. The same idea should be done with drunk driving. Individuals should be charged even more money so that they’re less likely to commit the crime. There should also be mandatory enrollment in an alcohol rehabilitation center, for anyone charged with a drunk-driving-related crime. This is because regardless of how small the offense is, if not reprimanded properly the individual could commit the crime again and it could result in the loss of a person’s life. I think it is always important to remember how expensive a human being’s life is. It is worth more than billions. I remember hearing a question that made me ponder. The question was, “Would you accept 10 million dollars today, and in exchange tomorrow you would be murdered.” Most people would say no because 10 million dollars to them is not worth more than their tomorrow. Therefore driving-related crimes should be taken much more seriously, to decrease the amount of crimes and deaths that come as a result of it.

Furthermore, there needs to be mandatory education in schools regarding safe driving. People often think it’s too gory to see videos of individuals in gruesome conditions as a result of drunk driving accidents or texting and driving accidents, but this is reality. Some people die from it, while others are disfigured for the rest of their lives. Some may not be able to walk, think, or talk properly ever again. This is why raising the legal consequences of driving-related crimes, is so imperative. Every year of school from the legal driving age to college graduation, there should be a mandatory driving course, online or in person for all students. In order to graduate high school and college, all of the driving courses must be passed. These suggestions may seem serious, but the consequences of driving-related crimes are serious. When legislation takes driving crimes more seriously, society will follow suit. This domino effect will allow driving to be just a positive contribution to society instead of a tool that takes away human lives.