Highway to Safety… not Hell

Everyone has a certain role in this world. Whether that is as a mother, son, daughter, friend, boss, and etc. On a much deeper level, everyone is put on this earth for a certain reason. Some people have found that purpose and some people are still searching for theirs. With all that being said, every single human being is very important to have in this world. In the year 2020, we have had about 16,650 of those lives be taken away by traffic accidents. 2020 is already a terrible year already, so how can we prevent more beautiful lives from being taken away from us?

Learning how to drive can start as early as elementary school to 80 years old. I was born and raised it the country, most of my friends were sitting on their mom and dad’s laps steering the wheel or even driving to the convenient store by themselves. However, some people don’t learn until they have to attend drivers ed to receive their permit and eventually their license. Learning how to drive is a crucial time in a person’s life because when they drive, they are responsible for not only their life but the others on the road or who is inside of their car. With the number being around 16,650 deaths this year, maybe a different approach should be taken in this crucial time for beginning drivers.

When they go to drivers ed, it is a couple of days-long class, where students watch power points, take notes, and even hear heart-stopping stories about car wrecks due to not following the rules that were just taught. While this is a good way to learn, I believe there are other ways to teach so that the students will be more prepared for the actual driving experience. Most students who go through the course are there with their friends or are trying to find their next boyfriend or girlfriend in the class. It’s very distracting; just like in a regular school classroom. One way to really teach some of these students is to have the drivers ed teacher have 1 or 2 students in the car and as they drive around the town, they explain the rules of driving, giving real in time examples. This would also allow the student to pay attention and ask questions without the feeling of not being heard or made fun of by someone else. However, this method will not cover every aspect that needs to be learned and the regular classroom setting would be perfect to cover what you don’t see every day.

Drunk driving is an issue that is one of the main reasons for traffic deaths. My brother is an alcoholic. There was many of times where he would drive home and could barely get through the door of our house. I would find him on the porch and immediately my first thought would be thankful that he did not hurt himself or someone else. Before anything, I would take his keys and them help him inside. He did not want to call anyone because he was hiding the drinking from my family, so he felt as if he had no choice but to drive himself. I believe that drunk driving could be reduced by some of the bars or restaurants that serve alcohol. Maybe by asking who plans on driving and then limiting amounts of drinks that someone can receive a night. That business may lose the money that would be usually spent on alcohol but to save a person’s life is so much more rewarding than any dollar amount, especially coming from a worried sister who witnessed their brother almost ruin his and someone else’s life.

That being said I am not always a perfect driver. I tend to speed a lot and I have received 4 tickets in my short 21 years of life. Speeding is another risk to traffic accidents/deaths. I just recently found out I was pregnant and now I am taking more steps to be a safer driver to not only protect my life but my babies. Right when I get in the car, before I even turn on the engine I put on my seatbelt. I make sure I leave on time so that I don’t have a reason to speed or have anxiety of being late. I put my phone on “Do Not Disturb” , other than receiving calls, so I don’t feel tempted to check my notifications on my phone. I also make sure I am looking everywhere around me, especially in traffic.

Always know that your life is important. You were born here for a reason, so when driving remind yourself of your worth and someone else’s as well.