Keeping Others Safe

Emma Greer

Being a driver is very dangerous. There are many people who lose a loved one each day due to a car accident. Over the few years I have been driving I have already been in an accident. Although this accident didn’t involve another car or anyone being injured it still is important to know about.

In my accident I was getting off the freeway to pull into a gas station and went to park. As I pulled into a spot my mind was elsewhere thinking of how long the drive on the freeway had been, or what food I was going to get. Why I was thinking of less important things I was trying to park in a spot with the sign post in front of it. I pulled closer to it and ended up pushing the gas instead of the break and slammed right into the pole.

Because I was so focused on other things I crashed the car. My brain and body were so used to pushing the gas to speed up on the freeway that it was an instinct to push the gas when my mom yelled to me. The front of the car was crushed and no one was harmed. Thankfully we had family behind us who stopped at the same gas station. They helped us move our stuff and we drove to the destination.

When we drive our focus needs to be on the road. We need to pay attention to our surroundings. When we get in the driver’s seat we have the responsibility of the people in the car with others and the other drivers. I have learned that I always need to focus on the task at hand. We were taught how to drive properly and we should do it that way.

People are given the privilege of driving and we need to keep others safe. Ways we can do that is by making smart decisions. Some decisions could be not drinking and driving. Drinking and driving is super dangerous. Your brain can barely function alone. But trying to make your brain function and control a car is a big mistake. So many lives are at risk. Your’s included. If you are drunk or even had one drink take some time to let your body get back to normal or ask for a ride home. You don’t want the death of someone else on your conscience.

More steps of keeping others safe is by driving with a responsible adult, turning your phone on, not disturbing, and removing any other distractions from the car and your mind. When driving you tend to want to impress when someone else is in the car with you. Show them you are a safe driver and that you deserve your license. Don’t make dumb mistakes. Mistakes like texting and driving. Some may think they can multitask while driving, but end up giving their focus to their conversation and not the road.

On a website called fleetio.com it says, “Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. At 55 mph, that’s like driving the length of an entire football field, blindfolded.” A lot can happen in the length of a football field. A person could run into the road, or the driver in front of you could suddenly hit their brakes. That could cause lots of damage. So a simple solution would be to turn off your phone, put it somewhere you can’t reach or see it, and drive. If you do get a call or a text safely get off the road and answer it. You could save lives.

When driving in a neighborhood or an unpopular road drivers tend to speed. Even going 5 over the speed limit can make a difference. In a video I watched during drivers ed it showed a fatalities of a woman being hit by a car. If the car had been going 3 miles slower the women would have lived. But the driver decided to put others at risk because he needed to get somewhere faster. The driver was also distracted by grabbing something behind the seat. His eyes were not on the road.

When the lady crossed the street the car was far enough away for her to make it. But because of how fast he was going the time it took to travel the distance to her was less. So she was hit and killed. By following the speed limit we keep others safe along with ourselves. If you are trying to get somewhere faster by speeding it could end up backfiring if you get pulled over. It would take more time for you to stop and get a ticket then it would for you to just not exceed the speed limit.

Another way to save your life is to wear a seat belt. I once heard that some crashes happen just a few minutes away from home. Just wear your seat belt! It takes just a few seconds to put it on. If you get in a crash you may get a few bruises from the belt, but those will heal, your death will not.

I have a few classmates who got in a car crash. They were not wearing their seatbelts. They were also messing around and playing with each other. They were pretending to be racing and one car turned into traffic and got hit by a car, I only know of one girl who got a concussion because she was not wearing a seatbelt. The other people probably ended up with bruises and were injured. If they were being responsible and wearing their seatbelts no one would have gotten hurt.

In conclusion we can keep others safe by making smart decisions and following the laws. The laws are there to keep us safe. Laws like the speed limit, not drinking and driving, and wearing our seatbelts. We have a responsibility to keep ourselves and the other drivers safe. So pay attention to the road and stay safe.