The Truth of Driving

“In
the driver’s seat” – Scholarship Essay for DMVEdu – 500 Words

Round
2 Submission – May 1, 2020 – August 1, 2020

Carlos
I. Miramon

A
very major step in life is learning to travel in machinery capable of
travelling at speeds capable of both transport, and wiping a person
off the face of the Earth. Driving is a privilege that over 200
Million people share here in the United States (U.S DOT). And when
someone is put in the driver’s seat, they are also placed with the
responsibility of the lives of multiple people: Their own, their
passengers, and those who share the road. Based on the Global
Status report on Road Safety, by
the World Health Organization in 2018 (WHO), about 1.35 Million
deaths in the world, occurred by road accident. This seems rather
marginal, but this number is larger than the death rate of smokers
that same year. But we are still able to reduce this number to a
thought of the past, where we learn from our accidents, for our
future drivers.

A
simple method to increase driver safety, is to educate them from the
beginning. To create a drivers test that requires quick wit, and a
more challenging process, rather than rewarding someone with a 2-ton
machine when they show they can do a three-point turn, a hard brake,
know how to park, how to turn at a light, how to put on a seatbelt,
and how to park at an incline. And taking a short written test. These
are the only requirements that one must go through to get their
license. Further into the education of a driver, would be on account
of the driver themself. As it is their responsibility to ensure they
are familiar, and trust themselves to drive their vehicle safely. It
can be as simple as adding aftermarket mirrors to a vehicle to
increase the field of vision. And it truly is that easy, as those who
rely on the reliance of their vehicle, also rely on themselves to
drive safer, in order to protect not only themselves, but their
method of transportation.

But
safety does not rely simply on the maintenance of a car, it also
relies on the maintenance of the person driving the car. For example,
we would not trust a chronic drinker to get behind the wheel of a
2-ton hunk of machinery. Nor would we trust a blind person to do so
either. It’s about ensuring that people can properly drive without
handicaps that would endanger those around them. I have experienced
others in grief over their friends or family being taken from them,
due to the irresponsibility of another driver. And it’s disgusting
to see those drivers, having their license in the first place. They
have obviously, and most likely previously, shown their poor driving
ethic. And this example shows how little regulation there is on the
process of granting, and maintaining a driver’s license. To be in
the driver’s seat, is to not only take care of yourself, but of
others as well. Until we learn this, we can grieve over 1.35 million
each year.

500
Words.

Bibliography:

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2018/dl201.cfm

(For
the number of drivers in the United States alone, from 1949-2018.)

(For
the number of drivers who were killed in 1 year; 2018)