Driving and Its Dangers

Do you remember the first time you got in the driver’s seat? Chances are, you were scared, or at least a little bit nervous, to drive a one-ton hunk of metal. In those first moments, we understood how dangerous cars can be, and we knew that any mistake on our part could lead to serious injury or death. But as we learned and became more comfortable with driving, we forgot how dangerous driving can be, and we sometimes are careless and thoughtless, which can lead to accidents and sometimes, death.

Driver education is important for reducing deaths that come from driving because it will remind people that driving a car is not something to be taken lightly, and we should drive as though any mishap could lead to someone’s death, because it very well could. When my mother was a teenager, she was driving her friends, and she dropped a bag of candy. As she reached down to grab it, she took her eyes off the road and ended up rear-ending the car in front of her that was stopped at a stoplight. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the fact remains that my mother’s distracted driving caused her to crash into another car. I am very grateful for the fact that none of my careless moments have resulted in a crash, but the fact that I do them is something I need to change, and something that everyone should work to minimize. To reduce the number of driving related deaths, there should be a greater focus on the consequences of careless driving when people are learning to drive, and there should be continued reminders of the consequences throughout the years that people drive. A potential solution could be requiring people to watch a video highlighting the risks that come with driving every few years to keep the consequences fresher in their minds than they would be without it. Of course, this is not a perfect solution, but it could help stem the rise in distracted driving injuries and deaths. As for steps I can take to help me become a safer driver, I can eliminate the need to do anything else while driving, such as putting on shoes, and make sure that I do anything else before I start driving, so I can have my full attention on the road. And for ways I can help others be safer, I can alert people that I see driving distracted that they are being unsafe and remind them to drive responsibly. I can also not intentionally distract the driver from the road, and in extreme circumstances, I can call the police to alert them of a driver I see being particularly unsafe and putting the lives of others at risk through their actions.

Driving is something almost all of us do, and the roads would be so much safer if we all put more effort into making sure we give all our attention to the roads and the cars around us.