It’s Not a Fight, It’s a War

It’s More Than a Fight, It’s a War

By: Alyssa Davison

84.6% of American citizens have a driver’s license. With statistics showing that more American casualties from car crashes each year than there are from fighting in a war for our country, it makes you wonder… What is the real weapon, a gun or a driver’s license?

It is known that to obtain a driver’s license, you are required to complete a series of classes and tests before you are deemed fit to drive. This is more work than you have to do to obtain a gun license, so why are more people dying from cars than guns? If you are passing classes and tests then you have obviously learned the material and become experienced in the field of study; and yet, Americans who drive still seem to be so clueless on the rules of the road.

If Americans are going to be clueless on the rules of the road just months after they completed classes and tests over them, then it is time that new laws are established to ensure that Americans are not forgetting these rules that are ever so important. Americans who hold valid driver’s licenses should be required to complete a yearly course that refreshes them about what it means to be a safe driver and how they should be practicing safe driving habits. Each driver will need to pass a test over the course material before they are allowed to have their driver’s license renewed for that year. This system of yearly license renewal will ensure that each American citizen, who finds themselves legally behind the wheel of a car, will know the proper tactics that are needed to safely operate a motor vehicle.

Almost every American, whether they hold a driver’s license or not, has had an experience with a car crash. Whether they witnessed it, we’re included in it, or lost a loved one to it, the experience is still there. I have a memory from when I was a child. There is a two-way stop at the end of the road that my house sits on. Many people mistake this road for a four-way, and some just do not stop at all regardless of the sign. That morning my family was in my mom’s van, and we were driving to go eat lunch together. A car came rushing through the intersection before my mother even had time to react. The car clipped the rear end of our van, and when he got out of the car he proceeded to yell at my mother as if it was her fault. This intersection is very dangerous, and even to this day my heart rate speeds up every single time I approach it. I have made it a habit to stop even though I have the right of way. Those two seconds that I take to stop just before entering that intersection, are two seconds that could potentially save my life from a driver who found those two seconds a waste of their time. My past experiences with this dangerous intersection are why I always take the time to completely stop at a stop sign and pause even when there isn’t a sign. I always advise the driver that I am riding with to do the same as well because these simple habits could save the life of you or another one day.

We all need a reminder sometimes that nothing is important enough to where we need to put the lives of ourselves and others at risk. Take the extra time to drive safely. I myself have been guilty of speeding when I am running late. Speeding as well as accelerating at yellow lights, stalling at stop signs instead of stopping, running red lights and stop signs, failing to yield, and not wearing a seatbelt are some very common hazards that most drivers choose to perform. If we all as a society just choose to take the few extra seconds everytime we enter the vehicle to ensure the safety of ourselves as well as the safety of others, then driving would not be one of the most dangerous actions in our world today. Everyone could be a better driver, and no one is perfect. That is why I challenge myself, my peers, my family, everyone that I do know, and everyone that I don’t, to follow the rules of the road and make the right decisions when operating a motor vehicle. We as Americans already have enough wars to fight, so we should not make driving one of them.