Rule
#1: Eyes On The ROad
By;
Marissa Frusteri
Drivers ed is
something everyone needs to learn before going behind the wheel. Each
year 507,781 people die from car accidents, and 43,443 people die
each year in America alone. That means about 11.69% of those deaths
were Americans, and 11.69% may seem like a small amount, but that is
11.69% too many people who die each year. With this in mind this
means that 199 people die, on average, each day. This is one of the
leading causes of unnatural deaths in America. If people are educated
about the importance of safe driving, and even the general rules of
the road, there is no doubt that those numbers will decrease. Now,
the best way to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is to
start educating future drivers earlier. The more they know, the more
aware they can be. I also believe in learning from experience, so a
longer “practice period” should be required before someone can go
for their drivers test. I know plenty of teens who do their 6 hours
to get their permit and never practice driving until right before the
test. There goes a potential year of experience wasted.
Realistically, nothing is going to change the way a teenager sees the
new found power of driving, but parents should keep educating and
guiding their sons and daughters in the right direction and to follow
the rules of the road; stricter “no phones” rules, no eating
while driving, no smoking while driving, no putting on makeup while
driving, and NO SPEEDING.
I have been in a
car accident once, and it was very scary. I was only 8 at the time
and my mom wanted to go home on the parkway. It was not my mom's
fault, but someone hit us because they tried to drive in reverse, ON
THE PARKWAY (due to traffic). They did not even look backwards before
they put their car in gear. When the police officers showed up to the
accident site, The guy who hit us fled the scene, and the people in
the car behind us blames us for hitting them. This was an avoidable
accident; if the man just slowed down/ calmed down from his road
rage, and looked behind him through the window (not just use his
mirror) the accident may have been avoided. Another incident occurred
earlier this year with my dad. Again, a man in a hurry ran a red
light and t-boned my dad’s car on the drivers side. They way he hit
my father’s car totalled the car, and my dad was lucky he was not
hurt. It was so bad that we needed to get a new car. Another
avoidable accident occurred because someone could not slow down and
follow the simple rules of the road. I also knew a recent high school
graduate (from my school) who was killed in a motor vehicle accident
due to inattentive driving. My experiences with accidents are results
of people driving irresponsibly, it may not have been my own family’s
fault, but someone was being irresponsible in these preventable
accidents.

Some ways I try to
be a better, safer driver is putting my phone in the glove
compartment of the car so I am not tempted to answer messages while
driving. I also make sure not to eat while driving. I do my best to
help my friends drive safer by telling them to not rush or to put
their phones down. Sometimes I even tell them to turn the music down
because it’s becoming distracting. Just having those second pair of
eyes in the car can help keep someone safer while driving. The rules
of the road were made for a reason. Nothing is that important that
you should have to risk your own safety and that of those around you.
People just need to slow down, let go the road rage, put down the
phones, and keep their EYES ON THE ROAD!