Safe Driving

Safe Driving

We have been told since we were young to “never drive like that”, “do not ever do this” as our parents do something mildly illegal or a little dangerous. We have sat in the passenger seat being sculpted by our parents, grandparents, or even siblings to be the best, safest, and most competent driver on the road. Though we have been programmed since we were young to always take the safer option, still to this day kids who have just gotten their license seem to completely forget what they have been told and taught their whole lives. If you sit and think about it, when you were younger did you not already learn some driving rules even though you had not been through drives education yet, but it seems as soon as young minds get freedom everything they have learned just simply disappears.

When most people think of being a safe driver or what a safe driver is they do not think very deep into the question. Stop and think yourself, what do you think when you hear the words “safe driver”? Most would say staying within the speed limit, not driving recklessly, paying attention always, and not being on your phone. That sounds like some of your answers too right? When those answers are given they are too broad to really know what it all means. I would say the same exact answers if I was asked that question, but in my mind, I would be thinking subconsciously something different.

When the words “staying within the speed limit” come out of one’s mouth you automatically think not driving 105 in a 55, or 35 in a 55 right? Which is exactly what I think. To go more in-depth with that statement you have to sit and think, is driving too slow really that dangerous? Is it more dangerous than driving too fast? Which is more dangerous, too fast or too slow? If you take a step back and put yourself in this scenario, you are on your way to work one morning at the speed you are going currently (which is the speed limit) you will arrive 15 minutes early. You come up over a hill and bam there is a minivan going 10 miles UNDER the speed limit. Even though it will not make you late to work it still irritates you. Being frustrated with the driver in front of you, you start to make rash decisions like passing when you are in a no-passing zone, going an outrageous speed to pass this minivan before the car coming hits you, or even being a rude civilian while honking and shouting rude things. All of these things do not really come to our minds when we say drive within the speed limit. The rash decisions that were just listed can be even more dangerous than fast driving. On the other side of the speed limit rule, there is fast driving, but I think most people know what that entails, driving erratically, way over the speed limit, weaving in and out of cars, just as dangerous as anything else.

Have you ever read in the newspaper or seen on Facebook how a couple of teenagers have gotten into a horrible car wreck and are now in the hospital? 2,600 teenagers die each year from distracted driving incidents, that is not including adult accidents, these numbers are just the teenagers from the US 16-19 years old. That number does not seem like a lot when you think about how many people we have in the US, but when you filter it down to it only being 16 to 19-year of age that is actually quite a drastic number. Now distracted driving can mean a dozen different things to a dozen different people. Distracted driving is not just being on your phones or listening to loud music with your friends and simply not paying attention to the road. Distracted driving is a mindset of some sort. If you are driving down the road thinking about all the work and papers you have to go through and work you have to get done, are you being completely safe? Are you really focused on the road enough to ensure you, your passengers, and the other people on the road that you are adequate enough to drive? I am personally not saying that you cannot let your mind wander while driving, in all honestly that is why I love driving alone it clears my mind in a way, I can think by myself without any other distractions. When you are in the car you have to be sure that you have a majority of your attention on the road and your surroundings.

When I drive I use what I like to call the golden driving rule, just like the golden rule of life, treat others the way you wanted to be treated. I always use this new rule when I am driving, I would never want someone driving recklessly 100 miles per hour swerving all over the roads towards me so I will not do the same. This is a rule most people should follow, drive on the road how you wish others would drive too. This rule has kept me calm in a situation like discussed before with the driving to slow scenario, It has kept me from going too fast when I’m late, it is made me think twice before speeding up when it’s raining, and from passing when I’m just not to sure. This rule is hands down one of the things that have kept me safe through the years that I have been driving, which have not been long, but I have yet to get into a car accident (knock on wood). If I could give every new driver some piece of advice it would be to first ask them the question of what makes a safe driver, then go into depth on each answer like previously discussed, then tell them the golden driving rule. I believe going over those two simple things teenagers and adults would think twice before doing some things while driving and even make them safer drivers in all.