DRIVING IS MUCH MORE THAN WHAT IT SEEMS TO BE

Driving is not a game as it may be seen in a play station, a wii or another sort of virtual entertainment gadget. Driving implies responsibility and self-consciousness. Driving implies care for yourself and for the others. Driving implies norms and laws compliance. It implies much more than people usually believe it does.

When you get your driving license, you are not the same person you used to be. Now you have different rights, but at the same time, different obligations. You have the very first right to drive the car, which is something most of us, as adolescents desire so much, but with that same right, lots of obligations come together.

Which obligations? Obligation to be a safe and educated driver. Obligation to fasten your own safety seat belt and make the people in the car do the same. Obligation to comply with every traffic rule enforced, and obligation to care for everybody on the street around you and your car. Obligation to have your car in good standing and working properly. Obligation to get the legal and corresponding insurances updated. And obligation to be the best driver possible.

So, before each time you get on your car you have to know that it implies all these obligations. Because a car on the street is a sort of weapon if it is not used adequately and properly. Because it can do lots of harm in hands of somebody who is drunk, under drugs effects or with any kind of physical or mental illness that can lead to misusing it.

And this leads to the first question about the importance of driver education in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving. From my point of view, education is a milestone almost for everything on earth. If people do not know what they should know properly, it is quite probable that the result is not good at all. Believe it or not, there are many of the deaths caused by car accidents that could have been avoided if the people involved had been educated enough so as to do it…

Regarding this issue, I would say that first of all, people should be severely fined when police catch them infringing the law. Apart from that, police should test drivers frequently on drinking alcohol or taking drugs while driving. Tests before giving the licenses should also be stricter and maybe for less years, so as to have a closer eye on the driving ability of drivers.

By the way, I luckily have never been involved in any car accident, and I have not seen any members of my family driving in an irresponsible and dangerous manner, but I have heard of many accidents in TV news programs and I believe many of them could have been avoided, actually.

Because there are many things we can do to become better drivers: first of all, be aware of the responsibility it takes, secondly, be aware of the obligations it implies, and thirdly, be aware of the danger you might be if you do not take seriously the act of driving. So many distractions on the street such ads, pretty girls, other sporty or fashioned cars; so many distractions in the car such as beginning from your own cell phone to another person talking to you, or in case of mothers or fathers, their little noisy children inside. So many distractions also inside your own head: work issues, marital problems, economic endurances, family situations and so on. So many people on the streets too: distracted pedestrians, other fast and furious drivers, people cycling, motorbikes, buses… So many things you have to take into account altogether and at the same time. Just a slight distraction and you can make a mess of it. Just a slight distraction and you can change your life forever: you can step on someone, you can crash into a tree and harm yourself, you can provoke an irreversible situation you could have avoided if driving consciously and appropriately. Not very much to do later, and a lot to do before things happen: education, prevention, taking care of ourselves and others, doing one thing at a time and, primarily, be conscious of what you are doing.

Back to the beginning: driving is great, driving is useful, driving is empowering. But there are no rights without obligations. All these come together. And it is the comprehension of all these entitled obligations that make a person a safe and educated driver.