Driving Safe Saves Lives

According
to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, in 2018
alone, almost 2,500 teenagers were killed by car crash injuries. The
cause of these crashes included speeding, alcohol, or distracted
driving. I have attended a drivers ed class and a teen
driving summer camp. I learned what could happen to teenagers,
children, and adults if someone is not careful. Drivers ed
isn’t something that should be taken lightly. You learn valuable
information that you can apply to your life when you are on the road
behind the wheel.

The
first major issue is wear a seatbelt. It may seem like a trivial
thing, but it is a life saver. Seatbelts saved almost 15,000 lives in
2017, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. Seatbelts stop forward momentum and keep bodies
inside the vehicle. At driving camp, I saw a simulation where an
adult and child were in the car without a seatbelt. The car began to
roll over, and the occupants inside were tossed around like
rag-dolls. The force alone could kill a small child. As the rolling
progressed, they were ejected from the car; however, it didn’t stop
there. The car continued to roll until it rolled right over the
bodies of the adult and child. If the adult and child had survived
being ejected, they sure wouldn’t have survived a car rolling on
top of them.

Another
thing I learned was alcohol consumption is not cool, especially
underage drinking. Your senses are dulled, and your judgement is
questionable. Driving drunk is an extremely dangerous thing to do.
You have no control over your erratic motions. You put you, your
passengers (if any), and other civilians’ lives at risk for one
simple decision. If you aren’t the one drinking, make sure your
friends don’t get behind the wheel. Never get in the car with a
friend who has been drinking. The consequences of underage drinking
extends past a bad decision. It is against the law, you could get
charged with a DUI, and you could kill someone. Vehicular homicide
isn’t the price you want to pay for an irrational decision.

I’ve
been in a car with someone who drove too fast. It is a terrifying
experience. They were a new driver, only 16 years old. They drove an
old Nissan Altima with a pretty fast pickup. In the 15 short minutes
it took us to drive to Burger King, we almost rear-ended another car.
I vowed never to get in the car with her driving again.

I
believe advocating for safer teen drivers is the first step in
ensuring everyone is a better and safer driver. I think,
unfortunately, more people either need to see a serious car crash or
be in a serious car crash in order to understand the severity of
unsafe driving. Requiring all new drivers to attend and pass a
drivers ed class is great step to making sure the new
generation of drivers will be safe.