Name: Peter Abraham
From: Auburn, Alabama
Votes: 0
After
a long day of volunteer work in a nearby town, my dad and I began our
journey home. I had just laid my head against the chilly glass of the
window to take a short nap when I felt the car swerve and heard a
loud bump. My drowsiness was quickly swept away, and my dad pulled
over to the side of the highway. After inspecting our car, we
discovered a large dent above the left rear wheel. My dad said we had
narrowly missed being T-boned by a truck that was crossing from the
median to a shopping center on the other side of the road. The truck
had driven off and left my dad to deal with the damage. It had been
my first accident experience and, if not for my dad’s swerve, it
could have been a near-death experience, and I will always remember
it.
Car
accidents are caused by many factors. From intoxication to noisy
passengers to cell phone use, these factors lead to a distracted
driver who fails to follow a traffic law and an accident follows.
Yet, there is sometimes another side to a car accident. A good driver
can prevent accidents by driving defensively and being aware of other
drivers’ mistakes. Thus, to reduce driving accidents, we must
decrease the number of distracted and irresponsible drivers, while
also increasing the number of defensive drivers on the road.
However,
this is not an easy task. In high school, I hitched rides to school
and other events with friends who had cars. From these experiences, I
found that young drivers like to take risks while driving, such as
speeding, texting, listening to music at unimaginable volume levels,
and drinking (although I’ve never been a car with an intoxicated
individual). Of course, these are present at all ages, but I believe
that many driving habits begin at a young age when a driver is
willing to take more risks and are engrained as the driver ages.
Thus, to reduce fatalities on the road, much of our focus should be
on the youth.
To
do this, we should create trainings that prompt young drivers to
discuss tragic accidents and possible dangerous scenarios and
articulate how to prevent and deal with those situations. Rather than
use a traditional classroom experience, organizations should
implement interactive driving courses that cement concepts of safety
within young drivers. These classes should emphasize good
decision-making and awareness on the road to prevent accidents.
Furthermore,
as an individual, I know I also have both the ability and the
responsibility to make a difference on the road. Whether it is
standing up in a dangerous situation or giving a simple reminder to a
peer, I can help alleviate the driving fatality problem today and so
can you. It is not about doing something revolutionary or dramatic,
but something simple: being a caring person to the fellow humans
around us. Together, one person, one choice, one moment at a time, we
can change the world.
