Two Lanes of Driving: Safety or Regret

Jenna Nguyen

August 1, 2020

Two Lanes of Driving: Safety and Regret

Last year November 12^th at 2:30 PM, I was stuck in a huge line of cars in the way to get to work after a regular day of my high school senior year. The red light ended when I became the first in the huge lane after 10 minutes of waiting around, and I needed to take a right. In New Jersey, it is legal to make a right turn on a red light if no other cars are coming from the opposing direction. I made the turn, even though I thought too late that I made a risky decision. The stakes ran higher the moment I attempted to merge into another lane after my right turn, and almost smacked myself into another car on that lane. The furious driver realized this terrible choice I made, and at the point of a stoplight, he opened his door to yell at me, but not leaving the car. I kept saying sorry a million times, and still from that point on, I have been traumatized by my stupidity.

Other than the mentioned, most horrifying circumstance on the road, there are some plenty other minor terrible driving decisions I made, even being most recent. Before I ever drove, I often dealt with bus driving accidents and being a victim of the unfortunate events, but nothing life-threatening. When reassessing all my driving traumas, I often have increased or maintained following attentive steps to become a safer driver, such as listening to classical for an overall calm mindset, or ensuring the temperature is suitable that it does not become distracting. Regarding help for other drivers on the road for a safe travel experience, I pertain to common driving etiquette and courtesy to ensure that all drivers understand where I am going or what I am doing.

Until knowing how many dumb driving accidents I could have caused, driving education has helped with all road situations as a baseline on how to maintain safety. Driving laws have been both created to regulate the flow of traffic, but for the livelihood of drivers rather than for benefiting performance of how soon people can drive. Not only does driving education focus on how to drive suitably, but how to properly decide whether to make decisions on the road based on what is happening and how to stay focused. To reduce the number of deaths from driving incidents, people must sympathize with the fact that everyone is living their lives and must get to places, and not prioritize oneself as the most important on the road. Once drivers understand this, there would be less of a temptation to attempt risky driving actions. Therefore, once all drivers respect one another on this point, traveling whether it be for a daily route to work or vacation, all people can drive safely knowing that everyone is on the same lane.