Are you aware?

Safe
driving

In
September of 2018, I was a couple of months in to obtaining my
permit. My dad had asked me if I wanted to drive the car home when he
came to pick me up from school one day and I said sure, not thinking
much about it. At the time, my mind often wondrously strayed from
thought to thought, I’d put my feet on the pedal and go, until my
dad starts saying “stop” and then he starts yelling “STOP”.
Then, my vision finally focused on the car in front of us, seemingly
getting dangerously closer. I finally realized and slammed on the
breaks as hard as I could and when we finally approached the car, we
crashed. Now, we found out that it was a minor bump to their rear
end, but I still crashed, nonetheless. I was wide-eyed, frozen on my
seat and my first thoughts were “is my dad okay?”, “is the car
okay?”, “are the people in front of us okay?” When I finally
gathered enough strength to get out and face my victim, I saw a
sticker on their car. It was a common sticker that I’d see every
now and then, and it was ironic because I never really knew or cared
about the significance of the warning it held, a friendly reminder
that “a baby on board” felt like a punch in the gut after
realizing that I was the cause of this accident. I thanked the
universe when I saw both the mother and her child safe and sound and
vowed to myself, I will never ever let this happen again.

“This”
that I promised to prevent myself from is every bad habit, every
thoughtless decision, every reckless behavior enacted by me when I
put myself behind the wheel. After that accident I kept thinking
about all the what ifs that could’ve happened had I gone ten mph
faster, had I push the breaks two seconds slower, had I just let my
dad drive if I wasn’t feeling the most alert that day. A lot of
things could have happened that day, and nonetheless it changed my
mind from then on. Persistent thoughts about the what ifs wouldn’t
change anything about what already happened but it would be a fueler
for a more careful, mindful, and safe mindset when I get out on the
road again.

Never
forget that when you are on the road, there are others around you as
well and we all have the power 4zxcvbnm.to affect a life with the
heavy metal machines we are surrounded by every time. I think often
we do forget that our method of transportation can also be killing
machines because they are presented as luxurious metal beauties that
have the magic to get you from one place to another in minutes. But
just from seeing the damage that they can do to each other is scary
enough to convince someone not to mess around when it comes to
driving. I also think that more often, people who obtain a license
nowadays think more about the freedom and adventure than the
responsibilities that goes hand-in-hand with them. Even though we are
constantly reminded of the dangers of being on the road it might not
be emphasized enough how big of a responsibility that is. It’s
great that the law is stricter on drunk driving and texting while
driving, but tiredness can also be a determinant factor of danger.
Instead of just educating kids under 18 about road safety, their
parents or guardians should also be encouraged to monitor the
conditions of their child before and during driving. Stricter laws
should be implemented when someone is suspected of driving without
being fully alert, whether it be because of alcohol, texting, ADHD or
tiredness. It might also be more effective if people are shown the
aftermath of reckless driving through visual evidence of past
occurrences when taking driving classes. Many people are visual
learners, and it would help to see the cause and effect of what could
happen through a simple example rather than drawn out words that
could lose effect on the student when taking these classes. With
these in mind, a driver can be reminded of the balance that must come
with freedom and privilege, so they can lower the risk for themselves
and those around them before the next drive.