
Name: Kiara Brown
From: Fairfax , VA
Votes: 0
There’s a little
secret in my county. When it comes to going through the driver’s
license test (a mandatory seven day ordeal) some of the teachers will
hand you your license in a day or two. It’s a score for teenagers
eager to get behind the wheel, but an illegal way to squeeze in more
customers (and therefore make more money) for the teachers. I guess
it’s no coincidence that in my same area there have been so many
tragic car related incidents; within a year and a mile of each other
an infant was hit by a car and a teenager who had recently graduated
from my school hit a curb and flipped over. I didn’t know either
personal myself, but the latter was a close friend of a friend, it
concerns me that it could have easily been any one of my friends as
well. Education is key in fixing a lot of things and the naivety
around the severity of driving is one of them. Maybe if driver’s
education was viewed as something important rather than a hassle to
get a license, there wouldn’t be so many driving related deaths in
my area and in general.
I think ignorance is
the leading cause of driving related deaths, whether that means
ignoring your surroundings due to distractions or ignoring your
better judgement. As driving becomes more familiar with experience,
it’s easy to become too comfortable and forget the dangers of the
vehicle you’re operating. I think a simple reminder to be careful
and cautious would be enough to reduce driving deaths significantly;
a reminder that your texts could kill you and you aren’t a good
enough driver to drive drunk; a reminder that your ignorance could
harm yourself or someone else.
Luckily I’ve never
been in a car crash, but when my mom was pregnant with my sister
someone totaled her car. We almost lost both of them. I’d have to
be blindfolded to have not seen people driving irresponsibly. I see
irresponsible driving every day, when I look in the rear view and see
the person behind me on their phone, when I get cut off by someone in
a rage, when I catch my parents stealing a glance at their phone
behind the wheel. Dangerous driving is everywhere, but maybe the most
dangerous thing about it is how normal it’s become; it’s not rare
to see someone texting behind the wheel or swerving a little too much
late at night, it’s almost not surprising anymore. But when things
that can cause life-altering accidents become typical, when they seem
inconsequential to do because everyone else does the same, dangerous
driving becomes habitual whilst coming across as safe. Suddenly
everyone’s driving recklessly and the chance for accidents goes up
significantly, even for safe drivers.
I’ve been driving
for just under a year now and I can feel myself becoming more
comfortable with it, but I have always had worried about something
going wrong behind the wheel. I don’t know a single person who
wants to get in a crash, but I know people with driving habits that
make it seem like they do. I think it’s important for all drivers
to remember that the two leading causes of crashes- speeding and
distracted driving- are completely under your own control. Unlike a
lot of other anxiety inducing things, there are steps to take that
can make you significantly safer; and while it doesn’t bring the
chance of accidents down to zero, I find comfort in being able to
reduce my own risk.
The dangerous
driving epidemic is something that’s been around for a long time
and only gotten worse with the invention of handheld technology. It’s
not something that will go away overnight, but if each of us made
individual decisions to keep ourselves, the people we know and
complete strangers safe, the roads will continually become less
hazardous. It might be a typical adage, but no matter of convenience
is more important than paying attention to what’s in front of you;
and we owe it to those we share those we share the road with to
ensure we follow that. It’s a life or death matter.