Collision Course

Collision Course

Lauren Christian

November 23, 2020

Collision Course

It takes one action while driving, one mishap or miscommunication for someone to end someone else’s life in the span of a singular moment. The most important tool to be used against reckless acts of driving to not only protect the lives of those in other cars, but yours as well is Driver’s Education. Education is the key foundation to unlocking the solutions and skill sets to all aspects of life; knowledge is power, especially when used to help save another human being’s life. Driving is an efficient way to move about from location to another in a fairly short amount of time, but while it’s used for its benefits, it is also a dangerous activity that many take for granted. Many people drive distractedly whether it be through eating, calling, texting, talking, applying makeup, drinking, smoking, or listening to music which takes the majority of the attention from the task at hand. When students learn and are taught the consequences of distracted driving in Driver’s education, it is my belief that they will take not only their lives, but the lives of others more seriously when jumping into a car and zooming off to their next destination. The purpose of the course is to correctly inform teenage driver’s on the proper ways to safely transport themselves to and from, as well as to identify and avoid improper driving techniques. The knowledge gained from taking this course, used in order to preserve the lives of those around them is paramount; without this course, the amount of fatalities due to driving would be too strenuous for America to handle. Understanding the law and how to properly apply the principles of Driver’s Education allows new drivers insight to utilize their responsibilities appropriately and safely.

There are a plethora of steps that can be taken in order for all drivers on the road to participate in safely transporting themselves safely too and from that I employ myself. Primarily, putting your phone on “Do Not Disturb”, turning it off and or putting it in the glove compartment, will allow the device to be out of sight and hopefully out of mind. This simple action will allow many drivers to focus their attention on the road instead of texting, calling, listening to music, and or being on social media which will capture their attention to a greater magnitude than driving. Eating and drinking also occupies a large amount of accidents that can cause the death of another individual. The best way to manage hunger while driving is to either eat before you leave, eat at the location, or eat when you make it home, so that your vehicle doesn’t become stained from the ketchup of your cheeseburger, and the lives of those around you are safely intact. Also make sure that mirrors, seats, and seatbelts are adjusted to the proper lengths to ensure that you can easily and adequately see out of the mirrors as well as be carefully restrained while driving. Obviously these tips and tricks are among some of the most useful ways to prevent humans from distracted driving, but something I have recognized that doesn’t receive a lot of recognition is the mindset. If we don’t have a proper mindset, that is calm, cool, collected and attentive, then how can we expect to have safe driving habits? No one should ever drive under the influence, when they are mad, sad or overly emotional because those emotions definitely influence our upcoming actions; whether they are intentional or not. The mindset aspect of driving never gets enough attention and I believe that once we remove the physical distractions such as food, drink, make up, drugs, phones, and even people; we need to address the mental distractions. A calm and attentive mindset will allow us to be more cognizant of our surroundings, which can and will always save a life.

Driver’s education, and the removal of physical and mental distractions will inevitably lead to safer experiences on the road for all people. It is important that we first care about our well being in order to care about the well being of others; and in order to employ that we have to make sure that we are all educated and in the correct frame of mind when getting into a vehicle, because we will never know when that time will be our last.