The Dangers of Driving

Driving is not a right, it’s a privilege. This privilege alone comes with an incredible responsibility. As more and more cars are on the street, it is important to educate the youth, and drivers on their awareness and the dangers they can cause. It must be ensured that safety of pedestrians and others on the road depend on each and every person. Educating others on these matters and the risks they bring when they drive, is a big way of reducing accidents and saving the lives of many people. Driver education is very important to teach. Not only does it teach how to drive, but the road safety rules. Driver education can teach defensive driving, and the dangers of distracted driving. All of these lessons provide key roles in reducing the amounts of crashes and deaths while driving. Many steps can be taken to reduce deaths related to driving. One step would be to have mandatory driver education in school. This should be taught around, but before teenagers get and receive their license, there can even be mandatory state tests outside of one’s required for permits and licenses. Stricter, and more penalties should be enforced for reckless driving. If caught on any recordings there should be immediate and harsh legal actions towards the individual(s). Judges should be allowed to take licenses away from drivers more often, instead of handing out fines. These tactics can help enforce safe driving on people, especially if they choose not to face the harsher conditions of violating the safety of others. Safety awareness campaigns, and business should also become more prominent in schools where they present the dangers of driving during assemblies, and classes. Vehicles should also be held up to more safety standards. Although they pass current conditions, it is hard to ignore the current state of some vehicles. Materials should be of higher quality ensuring that the pieces and parts don’t break down easier, and last longer. It can be duly noted that cars in the current time can break down easier in certain occasions. Panels fall off, dashboards crumble, hoods cave in, and more. Advancements should be made in these materials used to build cars, along with advancements in technologies incorporated with them. Every car should require lane assist, automated emergency braking, back up cameras, and more. Holding people up to these standards, and educating the public along with future generations about the dangers of texting while driving, driving drunk, and not being aware of their surroundings can lead to safer roads with fewer deaths. My family was once put into a scenario where they had to utilize defensive driving. We were driving down Stewart rd, and passing a stop. A car was at the stop and should have paid attention to us, however they didn’t account for us and pulled out. Luckily my parents were defensive driving, and saw the car ignore us and effectively pull out in front of us. This led to them being able to slow down, and veer off to the right. This action was only possible because my parents were aware of their surroundings, if not for the car being slowed down and veering to the right, then the second car’s rear bumper would have made contact with the front of our car. Occasions like these happen all the time, a friend was driving down a similar road, and when a delivery truck pulled out in front of him, unaware and not accounting for defensive driving, he didn’t give my friend enough room to move. Luckily he slowed down enough to cushion the crash. There are a lot of steps you as a driver can take to be a safer driver on the road. I like to avoid distractions and spread awareness amongst my family. A very important yet overlooked technique would be to wear your seatbelt. Like stated earlier my friend got into a crash, he was able to reduce his speed before colliding and he also had his seatbelt on. Although he has scars all over his face, both shoulder and hip being out of place and hurting, he didn’t fly through the windshield. He smacked his steering wheel and airbag but was able to stay in his car, instead of causing more injuries. Another step people can take is to turn off your phone, keep it in your pocket, or put it in your glove box. This minimizes overall distraction. Even having the radio off or turned down can keep you more aware of your surroundings. Driver education is not just a requirement for your license. It is a real life saving tool. By educating everyone, including youth, we can spread awareness and safety tactics to use when driving. Based on my experiences I am glad me, my family, and friends all knew what to do when put in a tough situation.