“Life is a Highway,” So Don’t be Reckless While Driving on It

Driving is one
of the most common causes of death in the United States. Crazy,
right? Driving causes more deaths than almost everything else does.
Despite this, we live our lives not remembering that this is the
case. People as young as sixteen are out there driving and not
considering that every time they get behind the wheel they could die
if they aren’t being careful. Why have we forgotten such an
important statistic?

Well, maybe it’s because drivers forget that driving is a serious
task. Driving has become a part of most of our daily routines, and we
forget how dangerous of a task it can be to drive. Driving is
something to take seriously; although I myself have never been in a
wreck, I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve seen
a friend shuffle music while behind the wheel, or even my own father
looking for a song on his phone.

Regardless, it’s important to understand that drivers ed can
help reduce the amount of deaths due to driving by educating people
on how to operate a vehicle safely.

So, what can be
done about this conundrum? Well, we could educate and remind people
how dangerous driving can be. In Texas, teens have to watch a video
from a program called the Impact Texas Teen Drivers, and this video
details what can happen if you or someone else is reckless on the
road. We could have adults re-watch a video that is similar to this
one to remind them that driving is not a time to be reckless.

Another thing
that can be done is changing children’s views of driving. From a
very young age, children are shown through different entertainment
sources that driving fast and recklessly can be a fun, cool thing to
do. Some take this idea with them when they begin driving on real
roads, and can be more likely to cause wrecks as a result. I’m not
saying to stifle kids’ imagination, but what I am saying is to make
sure that kids’ understanding of the world is not warped by the
entertainment they are watching.

A final thing
that can be done is being a good role model for the others around
you. I always try to be very careful to avoid driving recklessly and
carelessly, because I understand what could happen if I did drive
carelessly. Whenever someone is in the car with me, I take extra care
to be sure I pay attention to the road, regardless of the
distractions around me. By doing so, I’m encouraging my friends and
family to be careful on the road so that they can drive safely as
well.

So, driving is the one of the most common causes of death in the
U.S. That could change if we take the right steps forward. As the
song goes: “life is a highway,” so be careful about driving on
that highway, as doing so can lead to bad consequences.