The Importance of Safe Driving

Driving education provides the basic knowledge of traffic laws, regulations and actions that the average citizen needs to know to keep themselves and others safe on the road. One of the first approaches to preparing someone to drive, is to be aware that the lives of others are as important as their own. The best way to safely practice that notion is by participating in the learning and education of traffic safety, driving, and regulations.

There are various steps that everyone can take on the road to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. One of the primary ones is to stay engaged and attentive to your surroundings—just because you follow the rules does not mean that everyone else does. An example is the accident that my dad was part of. He was driving home and a driver made an illegal U-turn and rammed his car into my dad’s. The sign that a U-turn was not permissible was there, but the driver did not plan ahead for the fact that my dad’s car would be there and assumed that they would be able to either avoid hitting anyone due to their experience in driving, or that as long as no one noticed, then they could get away with it. Unfortunately, their overconfidence had repercussions that affected my dad’s health in the long-term.

The accident leads me to another approach to reduce the number of deaths on the road which is to actually follow the rules of the road. Don’t assume that everyone driving is as good a driver as you or that years of driving equate to lightning-fast reflexes that would magically prevent you from being one of the many statistics of car accidents, crashes, or death. When the light turns yellow, yield and slow down if someone is not too close behind you—don’t speed up to pass it. When the speed limit says not to go over 65MPH on a highway, you won’t get anywhere faster by going 90MPH and cutting off others.

I believe that the best way to be a better and safer driver is to keep in mind that the vehicle I’m driving is like my body and I, on the inside of it, am like the brain. Where I want to go, I tell my body to go. I focus on what I want my body to do and I do it by following the rules of the road. The rules of the road are like the rules of the sidewalk—they do not permit me to hit, follow, cut off, or run by someone on foot, so why do it on a road at significantly higher speeds and multiple views to be attentive to? There’s a reason regulations are put into place, such as streets that U-turns are not allowed—it’s because someone before you tried the same thing you’re about to do and it didn’t work out. Examples like these are critical for drivers like me to be aware of.