The Right of The Road

The
Right Of The Road

Driving
is an opportunity that many teenagers look forward to; they have the
flexibility to drive anywhere at any time, and it opens the doors to
freedom. The problem with this is that teenagers tend to rush the
process of driving; they want to be able to get behind the wheel and
show their friends that they can finally drive.

Before
anyone, including teenagers, start driving, people should understand
the laws and physics behind driving. Driving is very complex, and
everything on the road has a meaning behind it, and there is a reason
purpose behind why people tell to drive slow in the rain. The number
of deaths in driving can be reduced when teens try to become educated
about driving. Here are a couple of statistics on driving

• 66%
of teen traffic fatalities result from failing to fasten seat belts

• Teen
driver distraction is responsible for 60% of teen car crashes

• 12%
of teen car crashes are not related to recklessness, but simple
inexperience.

• Driver
education is associated with a lower incidence of both crashes and
convictions – reducing crashes by 4.3% and convictions by nearly
40%.

To
reduce the number of deaths related drivers can be defensive driving,
it is one of the most excellent strategies that could reduce the
number of deaths. Defensive driving is a set of skills that allows
teen drivers to defend themselves. Some of the strategies that many
may use as a defensive driver is

• Paying
attention to surroundings and what are the conditions on the road

• Do
not anticipate drivers to let others and you have the right of way
just because you are following the rules.

• DO
NOT BE DISTRACTED (TEXTING, EATING, LOOKING AWAY FROM THE ROAD)

I,
unfortunately, had the experience of being in a car accident, and I
was the driver. Since then, I learned the mistake of not paying
attention to my surroundings. I was at a 4-way stop sign
intersection, and I had the right of way. The driver who came after
me was driving when I was already in the intersection and hit my
right fender and door. The fender was dropping onto to the tire, and
the car was undrivable. It was not my fault because I had the right
of way, but I should have paid attention to the driver before
continuing to go in the intersection, I was not looking at my sides
until the car was up close.

There
are many strategies teenagers can do to be a safer driver and to make
sure others on the road are safe such as following the rules and laws
on the road such as the speed limit, stop signs, and traffic lights.
Something that causes many driver accidents is distractions; TEXTING
IS NOT IMPORTANT, IT CAN WAIT. Ringing from a phone doesn’t justify
to look at it , because this is the No.1 leading cause of car
accidents.