Beware of the road

“Mind on the drive. Hands on the wheel. Eyes on the road.” is a statement that all drivers should always have in mind when on the road. The sole fact that 18 out of a 100,000 people die from car crash-related incidents in a year⸺more than the average amount of deaths in the vietnam war, standing at 11 deaths per day⸻is a deadly fact in itself. Did you know that most of these incidents occur when the driver or someone in the active vehicle is under the influence of alcohol or some sort of drug? The truth is that while you are in the act of driving, you are at risk of possibly hurting yourself or others around you. The amount of risks and responsibilities as a driver is heavily undermined by the normalities and occurrences of driving incidents in the USA.

Driver Education is required to be taken and finished with a passing grade to be able to pass and get a driver’s permit, then a driver’s license later on once you are of age (18 Years Old). Driver’s education helps in knowing the rules of driving in the country and/or state. It helps the person on how to maneuver and handle possibly dangerous situations that may put your life in risk. Things like being cautious around a semi is pretty common knowledge, but other precautionaries might not be as obvious to the average person who has not taken Driver’s ED. While the rise of the number of people who know of the dangers on the road increases, the road continues to be unsafe due to many other factors that hinder the driver from driving safely. We as a community can reduce the accidents occurring and can continue to raise awareness about the dangers of driving through many ways, both directly and indirectly. We can lessen the amount of incidents through changes like making Driver’s ED more accessible and more affordable. The amount of money needed to pay is not by all means extremely inconceivable, but people who may be in a tough financial situation like myself do not think that getting driver’s ED is necessarily helpful. This is due to other factors like not having access to a vehicle at all, sharing a family car. Etc. While this may seem pointless, education about driving in general should be given to everyone as a part of basic general education as not only people in cars get involved in the problem but pedestrians or random innocent bystanders.

I’ve also personally seen many close relatives drive recklessly and create habits due to being comfortable with the ability of being able to drive. In a way, maybe recklessness and arrogance may have something to do with it? Habits can be stopping the road midway, zoning off in a red light, passing a red light, etc. It can result in unnecessary problems that can ruin plans temporarily due to lack of transportation and the stress that does come with it. We as a community can prevent the people we care about from getting into possible accidents that may occur. Like by doing many things like learning and understanding how Driver’s ED can help inform yourself and others about how to act and what to do on the road when stuck or when you are about to get in a sticky situation. But honestly, from my own experience, Driver’s ED IS a requirement and most of the habits are mostly developed AFTER getting your Driver’s ED. I personally think that problems like this can be handled better when the drivers themselves are informed about what they are lacking or are in need of. Most driver’s are also statistically more often mentally challenged or stressed, further hindering their ability to drive and process what happens on the road. Some of my personal experiences have not been the worst cases but my experiences with car-related incidents and all others’ experiences really all share one factor. It is the bad habits that affect and are created through the driver’s behavior. While I don’t have personal experiences about solving these problems, I think it is all up to how we can influence and tell the driver’s. Directly or indirectly, on how to safely travel on the road without the fear of having to pay insurance or damages due to the sole reason of being reckless. Spreading the word about the bad habits that can be or have already been created can possibly bring a crucial change about the stake of people’s lives on the road.