The Importance of Driving Safe

Kaitlyn Harris

The Importance of Driving Safe

Driver education is very important in reducing the number of car accidents and deaths on the road. With proper education the likelihood of a car crash to ever occur lowers and if the likelihood of a crash lowers the amount of deaths would then lower as well. The more people who are properly educated the more responsible the driver can be. Also with a stronger emphasis on driver education and driving techniques the better a driver can react to a situation in a quick and safe manner. If drivers can react in a safe way then the chance of a crash is less, and if crashes occur less then deaths will occur less as well. The proper driving techniques can help to lower the chance of a major accident occurring and if one does occur it could be much smaller just because the drivers know better techniques and know how to handle the fast changing situation in a safe and responsible manner. However these techniques and the knowledge of them may seem as if they are common knowledge, they truly aren’t and if people know them it doesn’t necessarily mean that the driver knows how to execute them correctly.

Some steps that can be taken to help lower the chance of a death on the road vary from making drivers more knowledgeable about the rules to requiring driving lessons to teach different techniques to increase a driver’s ability to react quickly and safely while on the roads. The more drivers know the rules of the road the better they can follow them and make driving the roads a safer place to be. However just knowing the rules extremely well doesn’t mean that drivers will follow them, in order to help make drivers follow the rules more there should not only be consequences for bad driving but there should also be rewards for those who are good drivers. Currently there is a point system where when you earn too many points your license becomes suspended, however I think we could change the system to include rewards as well. You lose points for bad driving and after you reach a specific negative number your license will be suspended but for good driving the points are earned and after a certain number of points a reward is given to the driver and then the points are reset to be earned again. This would be an incentive for safe driving and with more safe driving the less deaths that will occur while on the road.

I have been in several car accidents throughout the years which none of them were caused by my parents or myself. However, one of the worst wrecks I was in was because the driver looked down to change the radio and within a split second they had now rear ended our car plus the five cars that were in front of us. It was truly frightening and it has stuck with me as a vivid memory for the past 10 years and it still causes me stress today when I am driving the roads. Our car ended up being totaled because of the damage to the engine however, my family ended up being okay afterwards just a little bit shaken up and scared. Also some of my friends are not the safest drivers because they tend to speed and cut people off when trying to get somewhere by a specific time. I tend to not ride with them or drive near them because of the way they drive and the unsafe manner of it.

I can become a better driver by becoming more aware of what is happening on the roads at all times. I can also make sure that I am obeying all the driving rules and regulations. These steps combined can help me to remain a safe driver on the roads. I can also learn better techniques for reactive and defensive driving. These would allow for me to know how to react safely in case someone accidentally makes an unsafe driving move. Knowing this knowledge and knowing how to safely execute these driving maneuvers will help me become a safer driver and also will lead to me being in fewer accidents in total. When in the cars with friends I can help them to be safer drivers on the road by making sure to not distract them as they are driving. I can also help them look at the traffic to make sure it is clear before they make a turn or continue to drive straight. All in all, these steps can not only help me become safer but also my friends as well.