Surviving While Driving

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As someone who has been endangered by the reckless driving of others, I want to share with you my personal experience with it, and how to educate people better on the seriousness of driving. I personally think it is very important to educate people on the severity of safety when it comes to the road. My dad, who is (now) a good driver, used to be horribly reckless. The first step is creating more awareness of the reality that there are a lot of drivers who are under the influence, and my dad used to be one of them. While it wasn’t very noticeable when I was younger, my dad would often be unpredictable while driving, especially as I got older it would get worse. I’m not here to talk about my dad’s prior addiction, BUT I am here to talk about the impact it had on my life. Many times we’d get very very close to being in a wreck; the majority of the time it was his fault, whether he was about to run us off the road completely or hit another car swerving between lanes. Looking back, both my dad and I are very lucky to have not been in any accidents, and luckily he has sobered up and is a much safer driver! I wish he had taken the warnings not to drive while under the influence, and while he was obviously educated on the fact that he shouldn’t be doing that, there was nothing presented to him such as important statistics that made him change his ways.

The moral of that story is to take driving seriously, and to realize that there are other people on the road, which is my next point. I think it is very important to realize that safe driving isn’t only about ourselves, but others as well. We have to remember that we aren’t the only ones on the road, and nor do we stand above anyone else when it comes to following basic traffic laws and road safety. Taking a second and thinking before driving might save you, and someone else a lot of trouble. It is also important to consider the consequences of dangerous driving. While a pure accident is one thing, it’s a lot more shameful when you know you could’ve prevented the repairs you’re going to have to get on your car, or tell your spouse about the speeding ticket you got. When educating new, and seasoned drivers, they should give more information on the average costs of repairs and fines possibly linked to reckless driving.
Driver education on the importance of safety should also embody the life long consequences of reckless driving. Not only will you be paying higher insurance for a very long time, but you might also be paying a family for a hospitalized or deceased loved one, along with your time in prison. While no one would obviously want to intentionally hit someone in a car to cause a wreck, it is easily preventable by taking the necessary steps for precaution. I think a great way to do this is to encourage limited distractions within a car. Seeing more modern cars, there are a million different buttons that do a million different things (they really thought that one out, didn’t they!). There should also be less loose items to get in your way, as well as limited space aside from designated areas; the more nooks and crannies within a car, the more you’ll be reaching around trying to find your wallet or your phone.

I think it is also important for driving hours to be logged; where I live the system is very inefficient and it is practically asking you to lie about how long you drove. Rather than just asking who and how long you drove, you should have to log more defining features such as how many miles did the odometer change after you went driving, and certain locations (but not ones that could put at risk the confidentiality of the driver). This will make it much harder to lie when getting your hours to obtain a driving permit/license, as well produce safer, and more knowledgeable drivers.

At the end of the day, there will always be accidents on the road, and that’s just a natural risk that modern humans are willing to take. But we’re in control of those odds, and the choice to raise the odds or lower them are in our hands.