The Importance of Signs

Ariana
McEntee

July
17, 2019

The
Importance of this Signs and Awareness

Some
people question who built the first roads; was it the Romans or the
Scottish? But that’s not the right question to ask when it comes to
the development of our streets. Instead, we should be asking “who
invented the street sign?” Or in this case, “who invented the
first complex sign system?” We can thank Italy for their early
understanding of the importance of road safety.

I
am currently in the process of getting my drivers license and I can
say that my instructors have put things into perspective. Mr. Reese
made sure to start us all off with one concept: cars are like loaded
guns. With me living in Chicago, that is a serious statement. He
wasn’t necessarily trying to scare us but by him referring to
something that is used on an everyday bases to something as dangerous
as life or death, he helped us understand the risk that people take
just by getting into a car.

Mr.
Reese told us that the most important part of driving, second from
having a seatbelt on, was identifying and following signs. This
includes speed limits, which are ignored more than one would think. I
have been in the car with people and only seen a glimpse of the 30
mi/h sign because “no one knowshow to drive.” Ironically, it’s
the people not paying attention to what’s really going on around
themselves who claims no one knows how to drive.

One
would think that with the amount of people who die in car crashes,
someone would change their driving habits but, sadly, that’s not
the case. Even with the large green signs on the expressway that read
“put your phone away,” people still text while driving. The
methods people are trying to use in order to prevent crashes are not
working. Nowadays, you rarely hear about car crashes, but you can see
them on the expressway. It’s almost like people don’t understand
what Mr. Reese said about cars and loaded guns. Probably because
they’ve never had someone tell them about the analogy.

Moreover,
they’ve never thought of anything happening to them. For example,
some people believe they are immune or cheating the system when, in
actuality, they’re only getting lucky. But what happens when their
luck runs out? No one really thinks about that.

I
believe that by making people more aware of the individual people who
die in car crashes and what led to the accident, people will be able
to notice how they may be able to relate the that person then try to
avoid ending up in the same situation. Of course not all accidents
are the victim‘s fault, but whoever was responsible can be
relatable too. So you have to think, “how can I prevent myself from
putting someone else’s life in danger?” First, you can understand
the capabilities of your vehicle. Second, you can think about the
value of life then ask if it’s worth risking for a text that’ll
be there when you put your car in park.Third, to insure you do not
hit someone, you can follow the signs. This includes slowing down
when the speed limit decreases, being aware of the cars coming from
the street with no stop sign, and knowing that people might have to
merge in front of you. My last piece of advice is to be relaxed, not
because you are “immune,” but because you know that you’re
doing everything right.