“Driver Safety: How Education and Awareness Can Save Lives”

Driver safety is one of the most important things we as Americans can better ourselves upon. I have day-to-day experiences of many different unsafe habits of Americans all around my city. Anywhere from people speeding around my parents, not using blinkers leading others to have to slam on their breaks, to running lights with not a care in the world to the consequences. The number of times I have nearly been hit at any time-of-day is utterly ridiculous and should not happen. I am still a teenager; I should not have as many experiences as I do. There was a specific time when I was just driving to school. It was 6:00 in the morning and my mom was going down the street. She slowed and then continued forward. Suddenly there was a sleek black car heading straight for us. If my mom did not slam on her brakes and he did not, I would have been dead. He would have t-boned us and I would be no more. He got out of the car and immediately hugged my mom, both of which were panicked and on edge. It is so incredibly scary when things like that happen. Drivers’ education is so incredibly important for the safety of every person and passenger on the road. Taking drivers education was one of the most important parts of my driving experience for the safety of others. They didn’t just teach us how to drive, they taught us the mass impact driving can have on others. They taught me more than I ever thought I needed to know, and I am incredibly grateful because I will never forget. There is a story they told us that I will never forget. There was a lady, I don’t know her story or what she was thinking, but she and her three kids were in the car driving to their destination, and the lady had wanted to beat the train that was oncoming rather than waiting for it to safely pass. She would have made it, if it were not for the fact that there was a second train coming in the other direction. She murdered two of her kids. Her reckless mistakes destroyed the very thing in the world she should protect, now she must live with that guilt for the rest of her life. This story changed a lot for me. I wouldn’t have been an unsafe driver otherwise, but the thought that I could kill the people I love, with just simple mistakes, breaks my heart immensely. Never will I make reckless decisions that even have the possibility of destruction of other lives. If we merely have the caution in our brains to think about the impact we have, lives would not be as lost as they are. Driving a 2-ton monster is already a huge responsibility, we need to recognize that the laws are keeping us safe. They are protecting us from the terrible thought of living the rest of your life with those who are so precious to us. The laws are there because things like that happen, and I fully believe with all the conviction that if we follow them, we can save so many lives. I have never personally been in a car accident, but so many of those around me have. My parents, multiple times, though it has never been their fault. The closest story to me is my brother. He was driving down one of the side streets. He can sometimes not be the safest driver, but he was actually driving safely this time. He was following the laws as best as one can. He swears up and down that he looked both ways before he continued, but a car came flying out of nowhere, hitting his car. His car flipped upside down and was severely damaged. He still to this day does not have a car to drive in, though it is months later. I am so incredibly grateful he was okay because it could have been so much worse. His dog is 9 times out of 10 in the car with him and she just so happened not to be this time. If she was, she would have been killed. The reckless driving of another, in something as simple as not slowing down before continuing, could have done so much irreversible damage. Nothing would have been okay if something had happened to him. If we simply decide to speed and go faster than what the law says, we can take the life of someone who is so incredibly loved. We, as drivers, need to pay so much attention to the vehicle we are steering in and outside the car. Not only to protect us, but to protect those around us. Simply following the laws and making safe decisions, putting safety above everything else, makes for much safer driving and therefore many more lives saved.