Red Light Green Light

Red Light Green Light

My dad loves to tell the story of the time he got stopped at a red light. He was driving me and my siblings to school when he accidentally ran the red light directly outside the school building. He swears it was still yellow when he passed, but the police officer didn’t see it that way. So while his children screeched with excitement from the backseat, my dad was given a warning and a stern talking to about the dangers of running a red light.

Now I know what you’re thinking: “This story isn’t so special!”, just wait one second!

The next day we went on the journey to school. Took the same turns, stopped at all the same stop signs, but that red light; that’s a tricky one. Just as we passed the threshold of the school parking lot, the blue lights appeared. WEE OOH WEE OOH! My siblings and I lost it. We were all maniacal laughter and applause, yelling at the top of our lungs, “TWO DAYS IN A ROW!”. My dad sheepishly rolled down his window only to be faced with the absolute worst person to have pulled him over. It was the same officer as the day before. That day he got a ticket and a story that will outlive us all.

Thankfully nothing bad happened as a result of this story, but that is not always the case. Thousands of people a day lose their lives to completely preventable car accidents. Drunk driving, distracted driving, driving too quickly, sudden turns, lack of driver communication; these and so much more leads to accidents on the road. A way to avoid this is better driver education.

Nowadays with driving schools available online, many people cheat to pass their final tests. Although these people still learn to drive in an actual car, the information learned in Drivers Education is irreplaceable and saves lives. Drivers have to know the cold, hard facts and statistics in order to fully comprehend the severity of what they could be doing behind the wheel. Is answering a text worth someone’s safety and wellbeing? How about a snack? Applying chapstick? The correct answer is NO.

If a car is driving down a road at 60 miles an hour, and the driver looks away for five seconds, FIVE SECONDS, they have now driven 440 feet without looking at the road once.

There are many easy precautions to take while driving in order to prevent accidents.

1. Do not do things that will distract you from the road. Keep your phone away and your eyes alert on the road.

2. Do not drive under the influence. Alcohol and drugs impair vision, reaction time, and judgment. Drunk driving leads to over one third of all traffic related deaths.

3. Be respectful to other drivers. Road rage is not cool and can be very dangerous not only to the vehicles involved, but to other drivers or pedestrians.

4. Learn from the mistakes of others. Do not take a risky drive if you know deep down that it is not safe.

Driving safety is not a joke and can easily be learned. Drivers Education courses are required for all drivers in order for people to know the facts and risks that come along with a set of keys. The reason there are laws against driving without a license is in order to keep everyone as safe as possible. Rules and regulations are put in place to prevent accidents from occuring, or reoccurring. Rules like, minimum age requirements, driving sober, speed limits, and even stop signs are there to protect people. Another important factor is driver communication.

Turn signals are a must when driving! Many people don’t feel the need to use their signal whether they are in a turn only lane or just don’t seem to care for it. This leads to miscommunication among drivers and can lead to serious accidents. Stop signs. They are specifically placed in order for drivers to communicate with one another. If drivers were just to keep going at an intersection, there would be no control over who goes when and also a dramatic increase in accidents in those areas.

Overall, Drivers Education is an important resource that drivers need to take advantage of. The information learned through Drivers Ed. can and has saved countless lives and will continue to do so as long as future drivers take the time necessary to learn it. My father ran a red light two days in a row, and although nothing bad happened from the experience, that is not always the case. Following the rules set before drivers, learning and understanding the responsibility that comes with a car, and good driver communication and behaviors, are all ways to better safety on the road and in your cars.