The Cost of Reckless Driving

Red and blue lights flash, sirens scream and time stops for a moment as cars slowly drive past two cars, both hit a metal railing and crushed together: one car almost on top of the other. Eyes stare, phones raised for photos and there is news roaring about a family getting caught up in that exact mess with a drunken road rager. This is the result of reckless driving, people get hurt or even die from these situations. However these accidents aren’t caused by just drunk road ragers, anyone of any age can cause or be the victim in car accidents.

Teenagers, adults, and even the elderly can be included in this population. One of the reasons why these accidents happen is drivers not accepting the responsibilities that come with driving. Driving is not a game or a sport of who can drive the fastest. Driving needs to be taken very seriously. Driving while emotional or not being in your best state-of-mind can have a big impact on your performance while driving. These are some of the risks that people take everyday. Deaths due to car accidents are not rare and are not something that people should ignore when it comes to their own driving. Even if you manage to avoid causing an accident, there will always be that possibility that you will be part of an accident and/or end up hurt as a result of an accident caused by another driver.

Car accidents affect all types of drivers, passengers and/or bystanders. Our friends and families can be casualties of accidents due to inexperienced drivers, drunk drivers, bad drivers or drivers under any kind of influence – medication, drugs, alcohol all impact our driving skills. And yet we still have many accidents due to un-license drivers. These are just as bad as a driver under the influence of any substance. Unlicensed drivers lack the practice driving that license drivers take advantage of. We then have to consider licensed drivers that find themselves “almost causing” car accidents because of aggressiveness while driving or distracted drivers who are so busy with their distractions or drivers who just don’t care to follow the driving rules (right of way, road signs, etc.). For these drivers I have a question: Is it truly worth it to drive so aggressively or so carelessly that you increase the possibility of hurting yourself and those around you? I would hope not.

Driving should not be taken lightly at all. Driving education on driving is incredibly important at all levels from high school aged drivers through to the aged. Drivers must accept the driving advice on how to act and survive on the road. We are given information to better understand the road, tell us how it works, and the laws of driving which we should be following. The education we receive and the constant reports on car accidents on the news should be enough to tell someone that we should take precautions when driving. Paying attention to these classes helps us acknowledge the fact that we should fear getting hurt on the road, not just fear the road itself. It is freeing when you get to sit behind the wheel of a car and can go anywhere, but it is also a responsibility many people should take seriously.

I experienced being a passenger in a car crash. Thankfully the accidents have not been bad enough that anyone has needed to go to the hospital. I have experienced being in the passenger seat when one of my parents drives. It worries me every time I’m sitting in a car and I witness the speeding, the rushing passing in between cars, the cursing at other drivers out loud and boldly. I hold onto my seat for dear life or yell at them to stop because I need to simply remind the driver that they need to drive safely and follow the driving rules. This would always cause me so much distress and frustration. Once I started to learn about driving and started to drive on my own as well, I realized that some people who have more years of experience than me are not as professional as I thought. There are so many mistakes made, some excuses can be made but most cannot be excused because of the emotional and mental impact that is made during deadly crashes.

Bettering your performance as a driver does take time, but it is worth it in the end. I would suggest the most common advice given to drivers: always pull over to the shoulder or a parking lot when you’re tired or need to calm down, make sure you are in good condition for driving, never let your emotions overwhelm you so that you don’t act out on them, don’t be stupid and drive when you don’t own a license especially as a teenager with no experience. Don’t drink and drive, and always be careful. Never assume that you are a professional driver just because you passed a test either. Work to improve your driving always. Solutions to certain situations I would like to suggest are: Individuals who have caused accidents because they were drunk or emotionally unbalanced should be forced to seek anger management classes, therapy or rehabilitation as a condition of their license suspension so that they are given time to learn how to manage these issues. I do recommend that every three (3) to five (5) or even ten (10) years, a driver should be re-tested to ensure that they can still handle driving properly.