Bad Driving is not a Joke

They say Californians are bad drivers. It is a well-known fact among people who live in the golden state. But for some reason it is said as an inside joke, something to not take seriously. When looking at the numbers, however, the joke becomes less funny when it is revealed that California has the most car accidents in the entire country. It would make sense that if something was well known enough to make it a stereotype, people would want to change that. The problem, however, is that nobody knows how. Everyone in California is just used to people being bad drivers, and they aren’t aware of anything different.

This applies to other places as well, not just California. It is extremely important to educate people on safe driving so that they don’t have to expect they will get into a car crash every time they go out. Driving is a daily thing that almost all humans do. Which means save driving is that much more important. The more a person participates in a possibly deadly activity, no matter the odds, there becomes more of a chance that that activity would affect them.

Not only does safe driving need to be promoted for one’s own safety, but for the safety of others as well. People often forget that the driver doesn’t just need to worry about themselves. Collisions affect many people including those in the driver’s car, and those in surrounding cars as well. A collision could affect someone’s life in a horrible way, leaving people injured and sometimes even dead because one person was driving unsafely. It is extremely important that people all over drive safely to avoid hurting themselves and possibly others.

There are many obvious steps that could be taken to achieve this. I’m almost certain that you have been told at some point in your life “don’t text and drive”, “don’t drive while drunk”, “obey the speed limit”, “obey traffic laws”, and overall, just “make sure to pay attention to the surroundings”. These sayings can get annoying and repetitive, but there is a reason they are there. People still go against these things even though it has been engrained in their mind to follow these rules. Maybe you just want to check that one unimportant text. Or you insist you’re only slightly tipsy and could still drive. Or even you are late to work and decide to go a little faster to make up for lost time. These all could lead to potential accidents that could cause a lot of damage. Its best to just remember that it’s not worth it. That little text can wait until you reach your destination. Finding someone who is sober to drive you isn’t that big of a deal. And a few minutes late to work is better than not being able to show up at all.

Unfortunately, I have experienced many instances of unsafe driving. The worst time was when me and my cousin were involved in a crash that flipped our car. At the time my cousin was driving. The good news was I had chosen to sit in the back seat behind her, instead of in the passenger seat, otherwise it could have been a lot worse. Driving in the fast lane on the freeway is always dangerous. But we had not expected the car beside us to suddenly try merging into our lane without getting far enough ahead of us or using their blinker. The car cut us off and immediately hit the brakes because the car in front of them had been slowing down. At this point my cousin had panicked and turned the wheel. The front right side of our car collided with the car that cut us off, but we kept going into the center wall. The impact flipped us and the next thing I knew we were upside-down. It all happened so fast, and I honestly don’t really remember all the details. But I do remember the car was completely totaled afterwards. Fortunately, neither of us were too badly injured which we were extremely grateful for.

Ever since then I have been extremely cautious when driving. While the accident had been ruled as the other cars fault, I have still been taking steps to avoid that from happening ever again. Making sure that I keep plenty of space between me and the cars in front. Always checking my mirrors and blind spots before moving. Since then, I have moved to a less urban area, but that does not mean I can drive recklessly. A lot of my friends and family have also taken steps to be safer drivers since my accident, because it scared them just as much as it did me. And I do make sure to talk about this a lot with people because I hope that by them knowing my experience, that they will also try to drive safer and help it from happening again.

In the end it is important for everyone to know how to drive safely, and that bad driving isn’t a joke no matter what state you are in. By speaking out and teaching the next generations how to be safe on the road, eventually we will be able to create a safer driving experience for everyone.