Name: Rohan Manian
From: San Jose, California
Votes: 0
There
are clear roads, you decide to look down and reply to the latest text
message. At that moment, you look up and there is a pedestrian and
you are going too fast to stop. That is all it takes to end someone
else’s life. That is all it takes to make a mistake that cannot be
undone.
Driving
is a milestone in every person’s life. Freedom from the constraints
of lacking a ride, the newfound ability to transport yourself and
friends to different places, and a new token of independence that has
been obtained.
These,
while all true, come with certain implications that can endanger the
lives of yourself and the people around you. The most trivial of
things, a second on your phone, the brush aside of the seatbelt, or
the blatant ignorance of traffic rules due to your opinion that you
have a better judgment of the situation, can cause major injuries for
many people.
When
teens first are able to drive, many of them are pressured into doing
acts on the road that they know will end up poorly because they are
blinded by the pressure to impress and be accepted by their peers.
Thankfully,
I have never been in a car accident but I witness friends and family
driving recklessly quite often and also do not think much of it. In
most people minds, the thought of a car accident is implausible. An
accident? I won’t get into an accident… What are the chances…?
This is the kind of mindset that leads to careless driving that does
not give regard to road rules and regulations that are set to keep
people safe.
In
a world where time is money, arriving at a destination faster is
placed at a higher value than following rules. This is only a recipe
for disaster. In a society like this, it is more important than ever
to adhere to rules on the road even if it means that that a little
bit of time is going to be spent more on paying attention.
There
are many things I can do to improve driving safety, for one not using
my phone while driving. Sometimes when music is playing, and I want
to skip a song or change a playlist, I look at my phone to change the
song. The amount of time it takes to change music and look down is
enough time to not see a pedestrian and cause a fatal collision. That
is all it takes.
