Name: Jonathan Lutz
From: Phillipsburg, New Jersey
Votes: 0
The
importance of driving safely is to reduce deaths in car accidents and
I find it shocking that more people on average die each year from car
accidents than the total number of American soldiers who have died
from war in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. I know one leading cause
of car accidents are drunk drivers and we are told in school the
dangers of alcohol but many of us think “it will never happen to
me”. The drivers ed that we have right now does discuss these
dangers butI believe that it could use a lot of improvements. One
improvement I would like to see is if you are caught drunk driving
your license should be suspended for a minimum of 6 months to help
encourage you not to do it again. If you have had a past conviction
of drunk driving then in order to regain your license you should have
to take additional tests on the consequences of drunk driving. I feel
that the same consequences should be used with people who text and
drive. If they are caught text driving then their license should be
suspended for a month. In order to regain your license you should
have to take additional tests on the consequences of texting and
driving. They are harsh punishments but what is even harsher is
losing your life or being mortally injured because of a drunk or
distracted driver.
The
steps that I am going to take personally to be a better driver is to
ensure I am alert at all times. Texting and driving is very tempting,
especially whenever you hear your phone buzzing with constant social
media notifications. I will commit to put my phone in the glove box
where I can’t hear the notifications and I am not tempted to check
it. Another precautions I will take is to completely abstain from
drinking alcohol. Alcohol is very dangerous because it twists the
mind and prevents you from thinking straight and logically. I plan on
staying far away from alcohol even when I become of age to drink but
if I am ever in a situation where I am intoxicated I will ask for a
ride home. While drunk driving has been a leading cause of death
among young people I fear that texting and driving will soon overtake
it and without the social stigma around alcohol I think it will be
harder to combat distracted driving than drunk driving. This is why I
will continue to champion for cell phones to be stored out of sight
and reach while driving.
