It Can Happen To You

It Can Happen To You

It may be difficult to believe that over 38,000 deaths were caused by car accidents in 2019, but it’s an unfortunate truth. Negligence on the road is not uncommon. We hear news of deaths as a result of a texting or drunk driver all the time. Educating drivers about proper rules and the risks of distracted driving will help lower these death rates.

Driver’s education courses are a form of harm prevention because they will teach a student defensive driving techniques and the laws of the road so that they have all the information they need to drive safely. Driver’s education courses will allow the student to experience being on busy roads before they start driving independently. This can help decrease any impulsivity caused by nervousness once the driver gets on the road alone. However, driver’s education courses are not always required in order to receive a driver’s license. In California, you are able to receive a license at the age of 18 without participating in any sort of driver’s training curriculum. This means that there are thousands of newly licensed drivers getting behind the wheel each year that aren’t formally educated on the proper laws and rules of the road.

Many drivers do dangerous things on the road that they believe are harmless just because they are experienced drivers. We often get caught up in the mindset of “It’ll never happen to me” until it does. It is not uncommon for me to notice family members texting while driving or even watching things on their phones while driving. I try to discourage them from doing so as much as possible because I would hate to lose a family member in a car wreck, or have them be the reason someone doesn’t make it home to their family.

Although I have never been in a car wreck myself, I have seen what the effects of irresponsible driving can have on families and communities. In elementary school, my mother would walk me and my younger sister to and from school. Every morning, Mrs. Sandra, our crosswalk aid, would help me and other children cross the street to get to school or home. She always greeted us with a smile and wished us a good day and was such a bright soul. I looked forward to talking to her at the sidewalk corner every day. Around my middle school years, she was killed in a car wreck. She was hit by an oncoming car at an intersection on a country road and her injuries were much too severe for her to survive. My former elementary school held a memorial for her and offered an outpour of support for her daughters. Although she has now left this world, her smile and kindness will always be remembered in our small community.

Because I have seen how quickly a life can be taken, I always make it a point to drive as safely as I possibly can. I would never want to be the reason someone never makes it home. Driver’s education is one of the ways we can reduce the number of deaths as a result of car accidents by teaching the laws of the road and the consequences of distracted driving. I am taking driver’s education classes and learning to be as safe as I possibly can. I will continue to encourage safe and responsible driving among my family, friends, and community. We need to make the conscious and collective effort to dismantle the “It’ll never happen to me” mentality because life is too precious to be so careless.