Always Drive Safe

    Every year, roughly 1.3 million people die in car accidents worldwide – an average of 3,287 deaths per day. This has been a increasing number due to unsafe driving. There are many factors that affect our ability to drive a vehicle completely safe and without distractions. We have lots of different things going on in our lives that could distract of from paying complete attention to the road. Factors like children screaming in the back seat, or your forgot to text your mom back. These could easily draw your attention else where instead of completely on the road.

    When I started to drive I gave my full attention to the road, and both hands on the wheel at all times. As time goes on you start to get more comfortable and relaxed while driving. Some start to increase their speed, focus on things instead of the road, and even eat and drink.  So, when this happens drivers are no longer giving attention to driving one hundred percent safe. This could be an easy fix by educating others on the importance of safe driving.

    We now have programs to help make better drivers. Drivers education is available in lots of high schools to help teach kids early lessons when driving. From personal experience I took drivers education my junior year and thought it was one of my best decisions I have made. I learned life lessons about realistic situations while driving and the importance of always keeping your full attention to the road. I also learned how to react safely in dangerous situations that impaired or reckless drivers can cause on the road

    Reducing the number of deaths while driving could be easy, if everyone would do it. Drunk driving is a big problem that increases deaths each year.  In 2016, there were 10,497 fatalities from crashes involving alcohol-impaired- or drunk-driving.

People do not realize how dangerous something is until it affects them personally. Driving under the influence is so dangerous, and many think they haven’t had that much and can operate a vehicle correctly, but actually they are being selfish by endangering others on the road. Teaching safe driving skills can be hard to do on a wide scale especially when the drivers are experienced with unsafe driving.

    I personally have had little moments where a driver has almost hit me due to unsafe driving but I had almost witnessed an accident first hand. I was driving home one day from school on the interstate. It was about 3 o clock and I happened to spot a large tractor trailer ahead who was trying to merge on. A woman was driving a small little car right next to the merging tractor trailer. She had room to get over to let the truck merge but didn’t. She also so happened to be in is blind spot. So the truck believes he is good to get over and as he is merging, right before they were going to hit the small car raced away. After the whole accident was caught on camera thanks to a vehicle that had a dash cam, it was found that the woman was on her phone the whole time the incident was occurring and didn’t look up till the right moment. She was lucky to be alive and looking at her phone could of cost her life.

    Little things like just putting your phone away and minimizing distractions can make anyone a better driver. Making sure to use proper communication on the road is also a big thing to let other drives know and how to prepare for your next move. Following distance is also a major safety priority. Having a safe following distance can give you a longer reaction time for events that you would need to react on.

    Always remember when getting in the car to try to focus your attention on the road.

One of my friends was personally affected by unsafe driving. They thought they were okay to drive after not getting enough sleep the night before. They were driving and ended up dosing off and falling asleep. He wrecked his car and ended up totaling it. He fortunately only walked away with a few scrapes, but is still traumatized of getting behind the wheel to this day. If you notice your family members or friends driving unsafe make sure to remind them that accidents can occur and change their lives forever. We all need to practice safe driving so that less accidents happen and the road is a happier and safer place.