The Simple Things

The Simple Things

Last December, one of my closest friends was walking on the sidewalk in downtown Portland, when a drunk driver drove up on the curb and ran directly into my friend. She was hit on her left side, sent flying, and crashed back down to the ground. Her left knee and the left side of her face were shattered. She has mostly recovered now, thanks to many surgeries, but she lost her left eye, and still has trouble walking, as the recovery process is still ongoing. There are many factors that contribute to irresponsible driving, drunk driving is for sure not the only one, but it is the one that I have experienced the most directly. There are many deaths related to driving, and there needs to be a better system to reduce the number of deaths. You don’t imagine it happening to you, but if people see more of it happening in the world it could push them to be more careful when they drive. My friend who was hit took the opportunity to speak out against drunk driving, with a video, social media presence, and more. I know that seeing her social media has affected how I think before getting in the car, and I know it has for many of her other friends who’ve seen it. If there was a greater media presence to demonstrate the detriments of driving irresponsibly, people would be more careful. It’s one step to raise awareness and keep people mentally in check when they get in a car. Additionally, to be a better and safer driver, people can evaluate themselves before they go to drive, if they’re tired or drunk, refrain from driving. With Uber and Lyft there is no longer an excuse to drive when you are unfit, think before you get in the car about how you could affect both your own life and the lives of others if you are not in a good position to drive. Educating drivers through drivers ed is a big part of it, sitting in a class and actually absorbing the information through context and not just memorizing the answers to 40 questions that are on the test to pass and get your license teaches more soundly and applicably. Educating those who are going to be driving is incredibly important to ensure that our roads stay safe, but we also need to make sure that people apply what they learn, always using their turn signals for example, to ensure that they make their driving clear and safe. If there was a greater emphasis on deaths in the drivers ed class, and showing more about the effects on everyone’s lives, people might pay more attention to driving responsibly. A combination of an increased awareness and class learning are steps that could help. There are way too many driving related deaths in a world where cars are so important to getting around. This affects people every day, and it’s something that is life-altering, as I have seen firsthand. Reducing the number of driving related deaths is incredibly important, and there are simple things everyone can do in everyday life to contribute to reducing the number.