In the Driver’s Seat

Driving is an extreme responsibility that needs to be handled with importance and safety. Motor vehicle crashes cause so many deaths daily, which shows just how much responsibility comes with driving. This responsibility starts right away with driving education. For many people, driver’s ed is the first time they are introduced to the road. We can start right away with reducing vehicular fatalities by increasing awareness for just how important safe driving is. Driving education should place emphasis on reducing the risk that comes with being in a car by stressing importance of seatbelts, using your mirrors, using turn signals, always watching other drivers closely, and more. The fundamentals of driving tend to get dropped quickly after being on the road, but I believe that we can stop this if we truly stress the importance of doing all of the above. Safe driving affects everyone, in little or big ways. You probably know at least one person who has at least gotten in a fender bender, which is still a hassle even if nobody gets hurt. Everyone can benefit from decreasing the risks associated with driving.

When I was a junior in high school, I got in my first car crash. I was driving home from a meeting with a club I was involved in, and I was rear-ended in a town I was already unfamiliar driving in. I was terrified as I pulled over to the other side of the road to call my parents so I could figure out what to do. And it was even worse when the woman who hit me was yelling at me through my window. I had done everything I was supposed to, checked all of my mirrors, put on my signals, used my seatbelt. I didn’t understand how this had happened to me. But I quickly realized that the other party was not driving safely like I had been. She was not paying attention, had balloons obstructing her vision, and was attempting insurance fraud when she saw a young driver who she knew she could speed up to hit and blame me for it all. Had I not have been safe driving, the crash would have been even worse, and somebody could have been seriously hurt. Luckily, I haven’t been in a car crash since then, but I have definitely been even more cautious about my driving.

While my crash wasn’t so bad, I unfortunately did experience a friend being involved in a horrible crash. My best friend was driving to volunteer at an elementary school setting up for a party the next day. It was really dark, and she hadn’t driven in that area at all by herself, I usually drove us both. She tried to make a turn onto a road that didn’t have a sign, light, or anything to differentiate it from the ditch surrounding it. She drove into the ditch and the car flipped a bunch of times. She couldn’t get out of the car, or move it at all. Luckily, there was a firetruck right behind her when she crashed, and the firefighters came to her rescue and helped her get out. She called her parents and, by the grace of God, she had just gotten scratched up. She is still, over a year later, scared of driving at night because of her experience, and I don’t blame her. Driving is extremely risky, especially in bad conditions, or if you’re not practicing safety. I am so thankful that she was wearing her seatbelt and situated in the car correctly, otherwise she could have died that night. This is why safe driving is so necessary to stress; just imagine if something like that happens to you or your loved ones.

When I am driving, I will always take all of the steps necessary to be the best, and safest, driver that I can be. I will always be sure to wear my seatbelt, focus on the road, check my surroundings, obey speed limits, and more. I truly believe that driving education should focus way more on tips for safe driving and emphasize the big responsibility that driving is. There should not be drivers on the road that do not take it as seriously as it is, and I think this starts in driver’s ed. Many drivers do not think about the dangers of the road until something happens to them, and it should not take a crash or a scare to improve safety. We should stress the danger of speeding, not using signals, not paying attention, driving intoxicated, texting while driving, racing, and more. Driving needs to stop being a game to some people and being seen as a mode of transportation that comes with risks and responsibility.