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Driver Safety

Name: Meredith Muschweck
From: Meadville, Pennsylvania
Votes: 3

Driving
is one of the most dangerous activities. A car is essentially a metal
death trap where so many things can go wrong if the driver is not
paying attention or is uneducated about what to do in different
situations. Drivers ed is incredibly important to reduce the
number of deaths on the road. During driver safety, you are taught
ways to avoid car accidents and to be a responsible driver. Even
something as simple as turning your phone off or putting it away
where it cannot be seen. The temptation to use your phone will be
reduced. According to Edgar Snyder & Associates
Texting
and Driving Accident Statistics
,
Texting
while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving
drunk.

Even
while the numbers are high, more 660,000 drivers still use their
phones while driving (Edgar Snyder). In other ways, some ways to
reduce the number of deaths related to driving are to be fully
attentive while driving and keep both hands on the wheel and both
eyes on the road. Distracted driving causes many deaths related to
driving. Another simple, yet important factor is to wear a seatbelt.
If an accident were to occur, wearing a seatbelt could potentially
save your life.
Seat
belts
reduce
the risk of
death
by 45%, and cut the risk of serious injury by 50%

(CDC).
I was in a car accident where I was the driver about a year ago. I
was driving my sister home from a high school basketball game and was
only five minutes away from home. I came out of a stop a little fast
at a bend and ended up hitting black ice and sliding into a few
boulders on the side of the street. Everything happened so fast and I
had little time to react and even if I did have time to react, I
would not have known what to do. Our high school was only five
minutes away from our house, but nonetheless, I was wearing my
seatbelt. My sister, on the other hand, was not wearing her seatbelt.
We hit the boulders on the left side of the car, which was where my
sister was sitting on the passenger side. The airbags deployed on
only her side of the car. But since she was not wearing her seatbelt,
her body flew into the airbags and her head was hit on the impact.
This was the scariest moment of my life. I was completely okay,
except for mild stomach pain from when my seatbelt locked during the
impact. But she was not okay. I learned first hand the dangers of
incorrect driving and not wearing a seatbelt. I should have been
paying more attention to the road and should not have been driving as
fast as I was, knowing that it was winter and black ice was common.
In general, people should be cautious while driving and take into
account the weather, other conditions, and being aware of what is
going on around you while driving a vehicle.