A Safer Road is a Safer Country

Undoubtably,
technology has revolutionized the world and is taking off faster than
anyone has expected. There are so many benefits to changing the world
with all this technology anywhere from new medical breakthroughs to
just being able to be more connected with one another. However, the
problem with technology is people don’t know when enough is enough.
We as people need to understand when the right time for using
technology is and behind the wheel is not it.

Personally,
I am all for a technological advanced society. It is as if we are
living in the world only dreamed about or portrayed in cartoons from
50 years ago. While it is great, technology must be limited for us to
stay safe. Which is why the number one rule of driving is to keep
your eyes locked on the road. The breaking of this rule changes and
impacts thousands of lives each year unfortunately, for the worst.
Thousands of people. Thousands of people die yearly, on average
thirty-four thousand, all because 1 person in each situation took
their eyes off the road.

Driving
is one of the things teens get so excited about for when they finally
reach the age to do so alone. It is a faster way to get you where you
need to go than walking or biking or even asking an adult for a ride.
So, when teens reach the age to drive, they become excited for the
freedoms that it possesses. While the most eager to get out and
drive, teens are also the number one causes and victims of reckless
driving situations. Teens are more likely to become distracted while
driving and cause an accident. Because they are so new to the world
of driving, they don’t understand how much concentration and focus
it takes to operate a motorized vehicle. The airbags and outer
exterior of the car cannot protect you all that much anymore if you
flip the car over because you weren’t paying close attention to the
road. A proper understanding of drivers ed is important
because young drivers must be aware of the consequences that come
with reckless driving. It’s all fun and games until they find
themself severely injured or are the cause for someone else’s death
because they failed to keep a full focus on the road.

The
steps we have to take to reduce the amount of deaths due to reckless
driving is raise the penalty for texting and driving. I believe that
a hundred-dollar ticket isn’t going to lower the amount of people
who text and drive and cause these horrific accidents. Now I’m not
saying that someone just being caught texting and driving should
serve serious jail time. What I do think however is that the cost for
a ticket should be raised 10x the amount that it already is because
if someone had to pay a 1000 dollar fine for texting and driving, I
guarantee they would never touch their phones on the road. Lives need
to cost more than the price we are putting them at.

Graciously,
I have not been a victim of a car accident or had to witness any of
my family and friends be lost to the carelessness of reckless
driving. Although, I do worry about them and their driving most days.
What they see as sending a quick text on the road I see as them
putting their life and everyone on the road’s life at a huge risk.
I try to help them be safer drivers by offering to hold their phone
for them while they are on the road to avoid any accidents.

Driving
and handheld technology are both great and innovative concepts that
have shaped the world for the better by making it easier. We must
however, keep them both completely separate. Our roads will only be
safe if we can all agree to dive responsibly.