Driving and the importance of the risks.

We have all been at the moment where we needed to get our licences, and the process and getting that slip of paper (cause you got to wait for your actual Drivers Licences to come in) and being able to put that car into drive and cruise down the road to your favorite fast food place.

Driving is a rite of passage tennagers are allowed to get as we aren’t allowed to do anything else and honestly it’s an important one, however the dangers go amiss within the teenage community. We aren’t fully aware of the consequences that come with owning a car and getting your driver’s license.

I got my first car the second I passed my permit test just like most teenage kids and I was not the best driver. I would speed and I would blast music and hit curbs daily. But one day I got a very heavy traffic ticket and even a suspicion on my license. This is a consequence coming from someone who it happened to. It was awful, I couldn’t go anyway for months and I had to pay so much money to get the suspension off my license and still, even though it was off my license it wasn’t off my soul.

Driving recklessly isn’t funny or cool, it doesn;t impress the crush you’ve had for months and it positively doesn’t impress the safety of other people. It can drastically change someone’s life for what, going 20 over to be on time instead of being responsible and getting to school on time or just taking the consequence of just being late. Driving responsibly can not only save your life but many others.

I also got into an accident, and though this one wasn’t my fault the impact of the other driver is important to share. I was rear ended in Mcdonalds during my senior year of highschool, I was just getting lunch with my friends and a kid from school tried beating traffic and hit me hard from behind. I was in my small car at the time and he was in a truck, I was mostly scared as the friends in the backseat were under my care and if that accident hurt them what was I supposed to do?

I talked to the kid and begged me not to call the cops and to not call his insurance, the reason? He was on a suspended license and one more accident his insurance would drop him cause this was his fifth accident that month. FIFTH! Five accidents that boy caused and for what, to get a hot and spicy 2 minutes quicker than anyone else. I could have been hurt, my friends could’ve been hurt.

This was a very important lesson I learned that day that I never considered. A man with a suspension was driving and hit my car and would have hurt me and yet he was still not sorry and just continued and begged for mercy, it wasn’t right.Driving isn’t a game, it’s a useful tool to get us to places quick but when we abuse that tool what happenes then?

It should be more of a privilege getting your license as it is a very impactful thing to be driving in this world, you have so many more responsibilities now that you can drive and knowing those are important. It should be a happy moment, not a life ending one. It’s also so hard trying to explain the risks because most teenagers or new drivers don’t really listen but we need to, it’s a very serious thing.

Driving is like smoking, sure it’s cool but one too many can give you cancer. It’s the same, it’s a privilege and one more ticket and make that go away and ruin your driving milestone chance in the future. During the summer I had a coworker who got a call at work, he came back crying begging to be let out early as his daughter got hit by a car late at night. The driver was a drunk driver and didn’t see her walking home after work and hit her and she died right on impact. That one decision that the driver made cost someone’s life. My coworker lost his daughter that night because some dude thought it would be cool to drink and drive.

Driving isn’t a funny game to see how much we can do before something happens, the consequences to driving needs to be shared and actually listened to before we start killing people left and right because of human stupidity and not taking the seriousness of driving.