Educated Drivers Are Safe Drivers

Educated
Drivers are Safe Drivers

Driving is
something that billions of people do each and every day, but that
doesn’t mean that everyone who drives is being safe. Every year
new, excited teenagers get behind the wheel for the first time and
the only thing on their minds is freedom. I remember when I first
passed my permit test and I got to get behind the wheel of a car and
drive for the first time, I was ecstatic to finally have freedom, or
at least some amount of freedom. I, like many teenagers, suffered
from two things, the first being that I thought I knew everything
about driving, and the second was the complex that I was invincible.
I figured that even though I’d been warned about the dangers of
distracted driving I was different, I knew better and I would never
get in an accident because of it. This complex is the “It’ll
never happen to me” complex, teenagers are warned about the dangers
of driving and even the results of a crash, but we all believe that
we’re better then those before us, smarter even. We drive around
dividing our attention between the road and a screen. Trying our best
to keep up with everyone while still trying to drive a two ton hunk
of speeding metal down a road with a bunch of other people who are as
distracted as we are. If that doesn’t terrify you than I don’t
know what will. A cell phone in the hands of a driver is one of the
most dangerous things, according to the National Safety Council 1.6
million crashes each year are cell phone related. Teaching teens how
distracted driving affects their safety and everyone else that is
around them can lead to safer drivers. One way this can be done is
through high schools and having someone speak about the importance of
safe driving and show students what happens when they let their
attention slips from the road. I know that teens have to take drivers
safety before they can get their permit, but as someone who has taken
that course and passed their permit test I know that anyone can pass
that test and course without actually paying attention to what
they’re learning. Teens need to be somewhere where they have to pay
attention, and they shouldn’t be sheltered from the horrors of car
crashes, but rather they should understand that cars can kill people
if they’re not careful. People don’t need to fear driving, but
they need to respect that they are driving something with the power
to devestate someones life. If schools can implement a healthy
respect for the dangers of distracted driving, then the roads will
become a much safer place.

I personally have
witnessed quite a few accidents because I live near a section of road
where people tend not to follow the suggested speed limit and they
come around the bend too fast and they crash into our fence. Or
people are on their phone and they don’t notice the second turn on
the bend and they get off the road a little and then they freak out
and swerve off the road or back into the other lane. There was one
evening I was driving home and I looked ahead on the road and coming
up a hill I could see a vehicle drifting into my lane so I slowed
down, but they must have been on their phone because all of a sudden
they swerved back ober and off the road up an embankment and flipped
their vehicle. That moment and the feeling I felt witnessing that is
something I will never forget. The way my heart beat in that moment
reminds me that no text or photo is worth getting in wreck. I am
fortunate enough to have parents who want me to be safe and who
taught me how to drive safely, how to read a situation and react, how
to avoid an accident, and how to stay calm when driving. I’m lucky
that they constantly reminded me not to be on my phone when driving
because I know what can happen when you become distracted.

I really believe
that if all high schoolers are aware of not just the risks of
driving, but also of exactly what happens when they do get in a
wreck. If teens can see just how brutal and unforgiving cars can be
when they slam against each other or when they get rolled or they’re
crashed into a telephone poll, then teens can begin to understand
that nothing is worth that. The more young drivers we educate about
staying safe on the roads, the safer our roads will be. I personally
will continue to strive to follow all driving laws and avoid using my
phone while driving in my attempt to make the roads a safer place.