The Privilege of your drivers license

Adejopé Adaralegbe

November 12, 2020

Drivers ed essay

The privilege of your driver’s license

Driving alone is a privilege and that should not be taken lightly, it is no secret that today, things like drunk driving and texting are the two biggest problems that cause fatalities on the road among all of the other distractions like kids in the backseat or surrounding vehicles. However fatalities continue to increase, even though this is information everyone has access to. This is an abundance of proof that validates the need for more awareness, although people have access to the information, no one is going to go out of their way to find it. At this rate, the number of fatalities are just going to continue to increase because people in the age group that are at the hand of these fatalities are too busy focusing on their next post on instagram or when the next coachella is instead of how to ensure their safety and the safety of people around them. It is imperative that we find more ways to reduce these numbers because not only are the lives of drivers on the road at stake but the lives of innocent children in the back seat, or on the way to school, or bikers on a bike ride, or motorcyclist, which may I add are the most vulnerable on the road.

A great solution to reduce the number of fatalities would be using these popular social media platforms to educate young drivers about driver safety. Another great solution would be to require all states to make any activity on the phone whilst driving illegal. That would definitely decrease the chances of accidents and accidents in general. However, making cars that allow users to install apps like netflix is taking a step back because not only will drivers have the ability to legally co on their phones whilst driving in some states, but some can go as far as to watching a movie while driving, or a youtube video. For example, instagram ads, the ad could be anything from a short video to an informative flyer about it. This would at least inform these young adults of all the dangers of driving and ways they can prevent accidents.

Make no mistake car accidents aren’t always fatal, I personally have been in a car accident and I have had several close calls, and had I been on my phone any of those times, it would have resulted in an accident. My mother was also in an accident at the age of 16, during a blizzard in Minnesota, and the windshield was frozen over with ice shortly after getting onto the highway. She was trying to pull over but was unable to see the road and cars ahead of her when she thought she saw a car coming towards her and tried to swerve out of the way her car went over the bridge and tumbled downhill and she almost lost her hand. Driver safety was taught to me at a very young age because her experience was so traumatic. The accident I was in was very minor, but at a higher speed it could’ve resulted in an injury. Luckily I am able to say that my friend who was driving was able to try her best to avoid the accident but the driver behind us rear-ended us and caused us to run into the car in front of us. That accident scared me and made me very cautious about my own driving to this day.

With my past experiences I ensure that any and all distractions that could bring harm to me or others are turned off or dealt with before I even start the car. As far as my safety on the road I have been scared enough in my past to make sure I am safe on the road but I would like to share my experiences with accidents and close calls to avoid people around me getting into accidents. Finding better ways to inform people about safe driving and accident fatalities is very important especially during this time of year with the holidays coming there will be a lot of drunk drivers and parents eager to get christmas presents. Therefore driver safety and awareness are very important, with so many people out of their homes simply trying to get their children gifts for christmas. We as a people have to keep in mind the privileges we have when it comes to driving, and taking advantage of that is a risk I personally am not willing to take.