Name: Ashton Louise Morris
From: Hebron, KENTUCKY
Votes: 0
Better
Safe Than Sorry
Learning
to drive is a huge milestone in any young person’s life. I
was very excited to get my license, as were many of my friends.
However, as we all began to start driving on our own, I noticed how
irresponsible many teenagers are behind the wheel. All too
often, I saw my peers treating driving as no more than a status
symbol. They would take videos of themselves while driving and post
it on a social media platform, be it Snapchat, Instagram, or others.
Many of them are very obviously speeding as well.
The
fact is that an estimated 40,000 people lost their lives in 2018 due
to car crashes. Many of these crashes were caused by cell phone
use in some capacity, which accounts for more crashes each year, and
speeding factors into even more of them. So many of us believe
that one look won’t hurt, but that one moment of distraction is all
it takes for something to go wrong, for a light to change, for
another car to turn a blind corner right in front of you.
Before you even know it, you are in a wreck and someone is hurt.
We
need to educate our new drivers on the implications of distracted
driving. Teenagers and adults must both be aware that phone
usage behind the wheel is unsafe. Driving courses need to hit
on these issues harder and go more in depth concerning all areas of
driving to create safer drivers. Students need to go through
more than one single class when it comes to driving safety. We
should also encourage all apps to introduce a driving mode that can
disable the features of the app if you are moving faster than a
walking or running pace.
While
I might not have any personal experiences with life threatening
accidents, I still take this issue personally for this very reason: I
haven’t had any personal experience YET. Every time I go out
on the road, I spot irresponsible drivers that could potentially
cause an accident. Someone rapidly changing lanes, speeding by
excessive margins, or even swerving as they look down at a mobile
device. So, to keep myself and others safe, I avoid cell phone
use myself while driving and keep my focus on the road. I also
attempt to educate others in what ways I can by making them aware of
how dangerous any distraction can be and how quickly things can
change when on the road.
