Safe Driving

Drivers education classes are very important because they teach people a lot of laws that are not always known. A lot of parents are very comfortable driving and they do not always know the correct law, or just do not follow it. Driver’s education is important because it gives new drivers a source to learn how to drive the right way, and more importantly the safer way. Driving is an important skill you can learn that will help you in everyday life but you risk losing this privilege by not following important road laws set in place by your state or county.

A very important part of safe driving would be to make sure that you and all of your passengers are wearing seat belts, regardless of their age, height, or where they are seated in the car. You also wanna make sure that the car you are driving has been inspected sometime within the last year. A friend of mine had a family friend look at her car, it was not properly inspected, and her brakes ended up being faulty and the car spun out on the road. A large change we could make in the process of designing a car’s safety would be to make sure that the safety of women is factored in. Statistically women are less likely to get in a car crash, but if they do it can be more fatal. Cars are almost always designed, and tested by the “average male”. This makes these safety tests inaccurate if a female were to be in a crash.

Teenagers are always very eager to get in a car, to gain that feeling of freedom and self responsibility, but teens can also be very reckless or not as focused. Meaning that the safest way to drive would be with as few people as possible and, with the music low or even off since it can lead to faster and reckless driving. It is important that you are aware of your surroundings, so phones should be out of sight. Teenagers are basically attached to their cell phone, and some might believe that they are a good enough driver to use their phone while driving, but the truth is that no good driver texts and drives. This is because no matter how long you have been driving, you cannot control other cars, animals or other factors around you. Teenagers and young adults are more likely to be hurt in a crash compared to people in their thirties or forties, so it is especially important to make sure that you are extra careful.

A lot of people fail to drive slower and more cautiously on icy roads. For example, last winter, my friend’s sister totaled her car because of this. The roads were icy and she did not slow down early in case she did slide on the ice, and she went right into the car in front of her. Thankfully no one was badly injured, but the cars did not make it out of there. When driving in rough weather conditions you always want to drive slower, and have no distractions in the car. It can be very easy to get into an accident in bad weather if you are not careful.

I also know multiple people that have hit a deer at night. Although this can happen to anybody, it is important to make sure your high beams are on when there are no other cars around, make sure you are not only watching the roads but the area around the roads. It also does not hurt to drive slower at night, you never know what could come out into the road, and you want to be able to stop quickly to avoid any collisions.

To be a safer driver I believe I could practice more in harsh weather conditions, and on more city roads. Everyone should be practicing driving with an experienced adult when they are learning to drive somewhere new. This is in case the driver gets freaked out, it gets close to a collision, or the driver simply does not know what to do in a situation. A good rule of thumb would be to be at least 2 car lengths away from the car in front of you, but you might need to adjust this based on weather conditions, or other factors. Always make sure that you have an “escape route” in case you need to get away from another car, you do not want to be completely surrounded by cars. It is also important to simply practice driving as much as possible, keeping the ridiculous gas prices in mind.