Self-Preservation in Driving

Self-Preservation in Driving

By Kaylee Sloat

When people drive, they see it as freedom or their right as a citizen. However, it is a privilege, and this privilege is misused and abused. And because this privilege is heavily misused, the United States citizens have faced the consequences through a plethora of loss of life. And because of this loss, the American driver’s education is pertinent for the safety of American citizens.

I remember my driver’s education class; no one cared about the two-day course to inform us of the dangers and rules of the road. They showed us videos of accidents, the horrors, the real-life experiences that driving can cause. But, because my generation has been so desensitized, it did not phase a single person in the room. When all of the room should have been crying for the loss of human life, I heard snickers. The real problem is the desensitization of today’s youth.

Drivers education will save many, but if no one values human life, then how can anyone truly understand the pain of the loss they have caused. Punishment is the only way to teach children sensitivity for their actions; instead of letting them have everything they want without punishment. It is needed to teach people the consequences of going one hundred miles per hour in a twenty-five zone. People understand the rules, and now they need to be taught why to follow them. If not for the sake of human life, then to save their hide.

I have known many people to get into accidents and then get a shiny new car the next day. They had no consequence for their reckless endangerment of others. There is nothing coherently wrong with parents buying their child a car, but a child that is not disciplined will learn nothing. If they are not disciplined by the parent, then how will they take instruction from the law? They have to be educated on the consequences because many have never had consequences, so endangering others doesn’t matter because the consequence may be a better car for them.

Disciplining the youth will teach that there are consequences for their wrongdoings, and teach them a depth of human life that is needed in today’s society.

I have driven recklessly out of selfishness. I abandoned all care for those around me. I had no consequences. I was never even pulled over for my endangerment of others. I was desensitized and distanced from the world around me. I was depressed. I was hurting. But, even in my depression, when I learned the consequences of my actions, I stopped.

Consequences are something that most people do their best to avoid, even without regard for living creatures. People are selfish, whether I want to believe it or not. So, using the knowledge that humans want to prevent undesirable effects on themselves, and put the consequences in front of their faces. Make it abundantly clear what will happen to them individually when they mess up. Not to be mean, but to preserve humanity as a whole.