Driving Responsibly can save lives

I think back to when I took Drivers Ed in high school (that was in 1994). I still remember parallel parking on my driving test with the DMV, and I was so excited. I lost 1 point on my test “because my left turn back into the parking lot WHEN I WAS DONE was too wide”. Was I always a great driver over the years; Probably not. As a teenager just getting my license its so exciting being free to come and go and not rely on the parents. You have friends in the car with you, you are exploring new areas, and now cell phones are in the picture (but that was never a problem when I first got my license).

I sure hope that in driver’s education now a days they are showing videos on what can happen with texting and driving. Mainly any distraction can cause an accident resulting in death to the driver, the passenger, the people in the other car, or bystanders nearby on the sidewalks. Instilling these bad situations that are results of not paying attention can stick in a person’s mind, and should be instilled often as part of driver education.

I personally have not been in a bad car accident, or had family in that situation. But, I am a nurse that has worked on a trauma unit for years and have seen results of car accidents. It is nothing I wish upon my worst enemy. I often see people texting while driving and it makes me ill. What can be so important that you can’t wait until you get home? And if it is that important then pull over. Your response time is delayed when you are texting, or reading a text, or talking while driving. Cars now a days have blue tooth capability, or they make devices you can buy to do that. My home state of WI has laws about texting while driving but I never hear about people being pulled over or ticketed for that. We need follow through with this.

There are steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths while driving. The main thing that jumps out at me is KEEP YOUR CELLPHONE OFF AND OUT OF YOUR HANDS. Maybe we could instill more frequent road test and/or written (or online) tests prior to each license renewal, and once you reach a certain age then the driving test needs to be mandatory. We all could use a refresher. For instance, if you had no tickets since your last renewal then you only need to take the test (written or online) with passing grade before allowed to renew. If you had tickets then we could also mandate a driving test. And if you had 3 or more tickets, then in addition to the test and drivers test, we mandate a 1-day class over a few hours’ time that reinforces driving rules with what can happen if you don’t follow the rules, and how to help prevent deaths from driving. The problem with implementing this is then we need the staff to implement it all.

As for me and what I can do to be a safe driver is continue to follow the rules, stay off my cell phone, and educate others to be safe as well. Many of these accidents that lead to death, or injury, could be prevented. Something needs to change!