The Rules of the Road

The Rules of the Road

Miriam L. Diaz

The importance of driver education in reducing the amount of deaths as a result of driving is a notion we are all taught as we begin our educational journey in driving. I’m driving school or (traffic school) we are taught the rules of the road the basics like in everything there are basics, building blocks to the end goal of driving a car. They even go as far as showing you a video that will most certainly put you on edge and make you not want to drive a car. But why if we go through this much trouble to obtain the option of being able to drive do we not uphold it to a higher standard and respect these rules or the road a little more?

There are a multitude of steps that we can take to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Simplest is just being a safe and cautious driver, aware of your surroundings, but I understand you cannot control or account for others who have no regard for the safety of others. And sometimes it may not be exactly that, it is just simply that they aren’t paying attention. Their head is in a different space while their body is performing a completely different function. I’m sure this scenario happens plenty of times. Driving seems almost like an open ended question there are so many avenues leading to it. I think the biggest step in aiding better drivers would be to limit drivers or clean up the roads. Which is a big step I know but how else if we don’t make drastic changes?

I must admit I myself am at fault for not being a safe driver. I was at a stop light around nine o’clock one night with my friend and her new born buckled in, in the back. A car rear ended us and skidded to a stop just to the right of us. Scaring us all caused the baby to start crying and me and my friend were like what just happened… I put my car in park and unbuckled my seat belt. Opened my car door and as soon as the other car saw the light go on that I was getting out of my car she took off! I should have stopped myself right there. But I was so upset I couldn’t believe it. I sat back down, buckled my seat belt, handed my cell phone to my friend, told her to call 911 and chased her. She jumped on the freeway and I was trying to get close to her to read her license plate and once I did the 911 operator told me to back off. She was right and then it hit me, I have a baby in the backseat what am I doing!? I’m not only putting my life in danger but my friend and her newborn child!? I was the most sorry I could have ever been. I stopped and pulled over and had an officer show up to check on us. He told us they caught the lady who had no license or insurance and her mother and about five other kids in her vehicle.

I hope they suspended her license and kept regular check ups to make sure she wasn’t on the road again. But this was a major turning point for me in becoming the safest driver I could be so that I could account for my actions. I do my due diligence and most importantly I don’t think of it in terms of solely my safety but for the safety of others as well.