Behind the Steering Wheel

Daniela Carrillo

27 July 2021

Behind the Steering Wheel

Safe driving is something that affects everyone, not every person can drive but every person is still affected by it unless we talk about isolated civilizations. In our society everyone has seen a car and stepped into one, but because we have become so accustomed to these sorts of vehicles, we forget to consider the dangers. Anything can happen in a car, from technical malfunctions to a flat tire to the cause of someone’s death. My mom always said, “You can drive very good, but you can never know about the other people on the road.” Being a safe driver is more than just driving good, it goes beyond being aware of your surroundings, and doing what is correct. Safe driving is doing all those and more.

Many of us are given the opportunity to sit behind a steering wheel at an incredibly immature age and some are even given the opportunity to decide if they want to sit behind a desk and receive education on driving and not everyone gets the necessary education. A lot of us are given the chance to drive at an early age for many distinct reasons; some did not have a choice but to learn to drive to whatever places they needed to be, some had the choice and decided to become independent by treating themselves to the luxury of being able to drive at an early age. The reason is less important, readiness and preparation are far more important, becoming mature and responsible is more crucial. Not getting the necessary driver education is especially important, everyone should understand the power one has when sitting behind a steering wheel and everyone should know the importance of knowing how to control that power. Not knowing how to handle oneself on the road is a great irresponsibility and it is dangerous for everyone surrounding.

As an attempt to reduce the number of deaths caused by motor vehicles, having every driver receive the necessary education before getting behind a steering wheel and before driver would make a powerful impact. A possible but complicated solution to car accidents would be to provide free education and preparation for safe driving, to allow and give every young person to receive the necessary education to be a safe driver. However, that alone is not enough, another factor in the number of deaths caused by car accidents is ethics. It is not ethical for a driver to be intoxicated and risk not only their life but the lives of others. It is of great significance to try to get intoxicated drivers of the road, simply in the year 2018, New Mexico had a little more than a hundred fatalities all caused by alcohol impaired drivers alone. That statistic is only factoring the alcohol impaired drivers. Installing an ignition interlock device would be too much to administer and control, to one point that would be impossible. Looking further into this discussion, ethics could be to blame but it is very tricky and difficult to pin the irresponsibility of some drivers on ethics. Ethics is something out of control and subject to change, hence why it is so tricky. In any case, the people that drive should take the responsibility to handle themselves on the road.

Having people be educated in safe driving would help society, it would control the accident rates by teaching drivers about the possible dangers of driving. If people saw the accidents and the damage that can happen in time of a blink, they would come to the realization that being careless cannot take them anywhere. Being irresponsible with the amount of power one has behind a steering wheel is a danger to everyone and educating the youth and every driver is indispensable. Because even if one is not behind the steering wheel, not even in a car, one runs the risk of dying by cause of an irresponsible driver.

I am incredibly lucky and thankful that beyond the several scratches or dents that my family has endured, we have never been seriously injured. But seeing the anguish and pain from families going through those accidents is more than enough for anyone to fear driving. It would be cruel and unhuman to wish for someone to go through that type of pain, where one does not know the well-being of a loved one after hearing that they have been involved in an accident. That is why it is important to educate everyone, to teach everyone about the power one has when they are behind the steering wheel.

It is upon each one of us to practice safe driving and take on the responsibility to educate ourselves and the youth about the importance of practicing safe driving. The ability to drive has become part of a lot of people’s lives and a lot of people forget or lose focus on the importance of safe driving. It is up to every individual on the road to be safe and to be aware of their surroundings, to do what is correct and to follow the law. One can drive very good and be safe and responsible but you never know how other people on the road are driving.