Control of the Wheel

I dove right into the car with the thrill of being able to drive flowing through my body. My mom sat in the passenger seat, her hands firmly clutching the emergency break. As I backed out of the parking lot, we glanced to our left and right for oncoming vehicles. I safely maneuvered us out and we hit the road. I quickly pressed on the acceleration, remembering what my instructor told me about speeding up too slowly. The speedometer climbed until it sat on that 40 mph benchmark. For three minutes we cruised on the far right late, anticipating the right turn we would have to make. I moved my foot off the accelerator and switched over to the brakes. It was a red light so I knew I had to glimpse over to my left side. When I thought the road was clear, I stomped my foot vigorously to outspeed the next, approaching vehicle. However, due to my mother’s stern objections, I briskly pushed on the brakes. Suddenly, we heard a bang from the back of the car. Tremors sent shockwaves all around the car, and we were thrust forward and up.

Fortunately, we suffered no injuries. We pulled over to a nearby gas station alongside the car that bumped into us. There were no bumps or scratches on either of the vehicles. We parted ways after concluding that there was no need for an exchange of insurance companies. Despite my trembling body and shaken up mindset, I chose to continue my driving practice. I became more alert and practiced safe driving techniques afterward.

Accidents such as the one I incurred are heavily apparent in teens and young adults. We lack the same amount of experience as our older counterparts. On top of this, we are prone to committing risky maneuvers because of our incessant drive towards high risk, high reward. This is why texting while driving and social media use is one of the leading causes for teen driving accidents. We don’t comprehend the risks and consequences in the similar manner an adult does. We gun down on the acceleration when the light turns yellow to avoid the unnecessary wait if we didn’t speed past. We merge into multiple lanes at once for convenience even if driving instructors advise against it. We drive at the fastest speed we can when we’re on the highway to impress our friends. A majority of the time, teens make these careless mistakes because we have been found to be less disciplined and impatient. On the other hand, accidents can also be caused by a forgetful memory. With our limited driving experience, we tend to forget safe driving techniques. For example, once we’ve finally earned our license, many teens forget to check their blindspots when merging. Additionally, we may forget about lesser details such as who has the right of way. When met with a stop sign, some teens choose to stop and proceed immediately, or proceed without stopping at all. There’s no doubt that it is necessary for teens and adults to develop safe driving habits to lessen the amount of accidents that ensue annually.

Our dangerous driving habits can easily be lessened by developing safe driving ones. Beginning with the most notable driving issue, texting while driving. Simply by locking your phone somewhere that can’t be easily accessed, such as the glove compartment or the back seat, will diminish the likelihood of checking our phones. But since people vary differently in their phone usage, a hands free device will work wonders. Buying a phone stand helps to reduce the level of attention we give towards our devices. The other prevalent issues mentioned beforehand, specifically speeding, are quite easy to resolve. Teens need to learn to slow down. There is no use in unnecessarily stomping on the acceleration for the thrill, or to impress others. However, this shift can only be brought about through a change in mindset. As teens and young adults grow older, they mature and no longer find a need to take greater risks. Another issue is forgetting the technicalities with driving, which comes with time and experience. Teens can reduce the chances of forgetting these rules by accompanying themselves with an older individual. All of these risks don’t have to be risks, as long as teens and young adults utilize these methods.

If I had focused on being a safer driver, then my accident could’ve been prevented. Instead of letting my impatient nature overcome me, I should’ve stayed calm and proceeded when I knew for certain the road was clear. God forbid, the accident had the possibility of resulting in a more drastic event that ended my life. It’s not difficult to become a safer driver, especially when peoples’ lives are at stake.