Life or Death

Life or Death

I’ve always been told I was book smart—not street smart. This ignited unprecedented levels of anxiety in my 15-year-old self as I began driving for the first time in my life. However, with much practice and drivers ed, I felt prepared for my driving test.

Drivers ed is extremely important for gaining safe driving habits. However, in my state of Indiana, after reaching a certain age people do not have to take drivers ed. This is a problem that needs to be addressed. Just because a person is 6 months older does not mean he or she does not need to know about the implications and risks of driving. Therefore, state governments should actively consider drivers ed for all people who wish to drive. By having a simple minimum of 5 hours of drivers ed can go a long way in creating safe driving habits in drivers.

One thing that always surprised me was the lack of difficulty in my driving test. It was 15 minutes long: I had to stay within the speed limit, parallel park once, and switch lanes once. I was upset and angry. Most drivers rarely stay within the speed limit and driving a car is one of the greatest factors of deaths in the United States, so why wasn’t the driving test more difficult? In order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, the BMV and licensed driving test companies should seek to increase the difficulty of the tests. By doing so, drivers will be better trained and cognizant of their surroundings.

My uncle’s parents died in a car accident, and what angers me is the fact that it could have been prevented. His parents could have been alive right now, but because a teenage boy thought it was okay to drive while texting his friends, two precious lives were lost, further devastating hundreds of more people.

When I see my dad text and drive, I immediately tell him to pull over. When he refuses, I politely ask him to give me his phone and allow me to type out what he needed to say in the text conversation. My actions are respectful while still being able to prevent him from distracted driving.

I have pledged to not look at my phone while I am driving because I know that whatever text I receive is not worth losing my life or killing another person’s life. To help others, I want to advocate that every one of my peers takes the pledge and that friends and family hold each other accountable. I want to stress to adults to practice safe driving habits because when parents are texting and driving, kids will think it is okay to do so as well. Within my community, I want to increase responsibility by advocating for increasing fines and enforcing laws if drivers choose to text and drive or participate in other distracting driving behaviors because it almost always comes down to life or death.