Driving as it Should Be

Driving
as it Should Be

By
Johan McGee

Driving is one of the most dangerous things that you will do in your
entire life. Every time you leave your driveway, there’s a risk
that you may never return. A few years ago, my dad and older brother
were involved in a head on collision when someone ran a stop sign. As
my dad was taking a left-hand turn, this person ran a stop sign
because he was texting while driving. He rammed the front end of our
truck and absolutely totaled the vehicle. By some miracle, both my
dad and brother survived the accident and walked away with no
life-threatening injuries. This accident was completely preventable
and was caused by the negligence of another driver.

In 2017 alone, there were 6.5 million crashes nationwide that
resulted in 37,000 deaths. Out of all age groups, teenagers between
the ages of 16 and 19 are the most likely to be involved in a fatal
accident. The only way that we can lower the amount of
driving-related deaths is through drivers ed. For almost three
years now, I have been taking drivers ed courses and practicing
under my parent’s supervision. My first few times driving were a
little hair-raising for all of us but as time went on, I have been
learning at an exponential rate. From everything that I have learned
about road safety, the most important thing is defensive driving. You
always need to be aware of your surroundings and of problems that may
start to unfold so that you have the time to react.

As Mel Brooks famously said, “Hope for the best and expect for the
worst.” When I’m driving, I am constantly scanning other drivers
while trying to anticipate what they are going to do. On multiple
occasions, this has saved me from getting in an accident because I
was prepared to deal with somebody that wasn’t following the law.
Even by following the law yourself, you are not safe from others that
drive dangerously. Also, texting while driving should have a hefty
fine so that we can reduce the number of preventable accidents. If
you need to send a text that badly, just pull over so that you aren’t
risking other peoples lives, not to mention your own.

By educating young drivers, we can help them to drive defensively
while also anticipating what other drivers might do. Many accidents
are preventable and if restrictions to getting a license were
tightened and we educated younger generations on how to drive safely,
we could reduce the number of accidents that occur. Some countries
require an entire year of driver training instruction before their
young people can apply for a license, Sweden being one. If everybody
was required to go through a drivers ed course, our roads
would be much safer because drivers ed is, in fact, a
matter of life and death.

Sources

https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-highway-safety

https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html