Drive Safe

Drive
Safe

By
Bryce Jones

Driving is far more dangerous
than we realize. Everyday, people are injured or killed behind the
wheel due to the irresponsibility and ignorance of either themselves
or another driver. When I first started driving, I was terrified, as
I did not feel safe in a vehicle and I knew an accident could happen
at any moment. I did not want to be the cause of that accident, and I
wanted to make sure that I knew everything I needed to know about how
to be a safe driver. That is why I took Drivers ed very
seriously. Drivers ed. is incredibly important, as it is our way
to teach children the dangers and responsibilities of driving so as
to minimize accidents.

Drivers ed. not only
teaches us the rules of driving, it teaches us about the disasterous
consequences of driving while distracted. Driving seems easy from the
passenger seat, but when behind the wheel, it’s a different story.
When driving, it is important to focus on the road and your
surroundings at all times. Things like smartphones, radios or a
pedestrian make staying focused difficult at times. I think in order
to make on impact on learning drivers to stop distracted driving, we
must make sure that children are incredibly aware of what could
happen if there were an accident. This applies to Drivers ed.
classes as well as advertisements on television. I’d like to see
commercials that urge us to stop distracted driving as often as I see
commercials urging us to stop smoking cigarettes.

I think my biggest issue when
it comes to driving is awareness. I am a very easily distracted
person, such is the norm when you’re a person with ADD. When I see
something such as a person on the side of the road, a dog sticking
it’s head out of a car window, or even a strange looking sign, I
can’t help but glance over. I realize that this could cause
problems for me while driving. I’m trying to control it the best I
can, and I’m getting better. When you’re driving down the road,
all it takes is a few seconds of not looking at the road to cause an
accident, which is why you should keep your eyes on the road at all
times.

As someone who has never been
in a car accident, I can’t really provide a first-person
perspective on how horrible they are. My mother, however, has been in
3 severe car accidents since I’ve been alive, and I believe it was
due to pure luck that none of them were fatal. Most people will not
be as lucky as that. This is why we must make sure that we put a stop
to careless driving habits through Drivers ed. and advertising,
making sure that we let children know of what can happen due to
unsafe driving in anyway we can. We will not only be benefiting other
drivers, we will be benefiting ourselves.