The Forgotten

Elena Simpson

30 November 2020

The Forgotten

A busted-up Jeep Cherokee tears away from the high school, cutting the corner with squealing tires and laughing passengers. Black tire marks stain the pavement as the vehicle carries three teenage girls up the hill towards their soccer game. Its driver glances at her phone to verify her directions, and the car rams into a Sedan at the light. The characters in this anecdote were my teammates and me. Being one of the few freshmen on the team, I needed a ride to the game. A senior generously offered to take me, assuring my mom she was a safe driver. Though we got into an accident, this senior was not lying. She was generally a safe driver and followed most of the rules. She simply forgot to follow one of the most important ones, do not drive distracted. Most drivers would describe themselves as conscientious and attentive, yet if this was the case, then an average of 34,000 Americans would not perish on the road every year. The forgotten rules are the difference between life and death. If American drivers were properly educated in the rules of driving and adhered to them, they would be less likely to forget.

Driver’s education is one of the keys to creating safer roads in America. Over seventy-six percent of Americans drive every day. With such a large number, the probability of drivers forgetting or simply not knowing important rules immediately increases. Driver’s education decreases the risk by ensuring individual drivers know the safest way to navigate one of the deadliest activities on earth. By providing manuals, classes, and tests, this system drills the rules of the road into potential victims and perpetrators of drunk driving, distracted driving, railway accidents, etc, and leaves drivers with the simple yet demanding task of following those rules.

We are human. Making mistakes is part of our nature. The more we strive to remember however, the less we will forget. Numerous deaths due to driving are easily prevented if we simply take the time to remember the principles we are taught in Driver’s Ed. These include staying focused on the road not using cell-phones, eating, changing the radio station, rummaging in the glove compartment, or looking at passengers. Also, using turn signals, turning off the brights when another vehicle approaches, stopping with a cushion of space between another vehicle, obeying traffic signs and lights, and following the speed limit can create a safer driving experience. In terms of bettering my own driving, I could remember to set my music playlist before I begin to drive and enable a do-not-disturb setting on my phone during my commute. If we can remember these simple tasks, thousands of lives could be saved.

Driver’s education gives us the power to create safer roads, but our fates are up to each of us. The difference between life and death on the road could be a simple rule. If we just remember, the road could be used for what it is meant for: driving.