Save a Life, Drive Safe

 

One extremely common dangerous driving habit I see every day is speeding. I am a newer driver, and I am shocked at how many people pass me on the road when I am driving the speed limit. Speeding is often done in conjunction with other bad habits such as lack of turn signals and texting while driving. Driving recklessly like this is can also be thought of as “cool” among new drivers, leading them to further develop these bad habits. Seeing these things showed me exactly why car crashes are a leading cause of death in America.

Proper driving education is imperative because it is the only thing keeping us safe on the road. When I took my road exam for my license, I was astounded by how simple and short it was. I drove about one block on a main road and on a neighborhood one, and I had to do a three-point turn. I thought that it was way too easy. With a test that short, even a driver who regularly speeds could hold back from speeding. How can we ensure road safety when the requirements to get a license are so low? There are many ways to approach this problem, but I think increasing the length and difficulty of the test would help encourage new drivers to drive safely.

I try to drive defensively and carefully, but even the safest driver is at risk. I have experienced a few car accidents in my life. Once when I was younger, I was in the passenger seat of our big truck as my mom drove me to school. We were left turning, and someone attempting to U-turn hit us from the side. We were all unharmed, but it was really scary as a kid. More recently I was rear-ended while driving home from school when the car in front of me stopped short at a light, I managed to stop in time, but the three cars behind me didn’t. No one was hurt, but four of us had dents in our cars. Now I always make sure there is enough space in front of AND behind my vehicle. I have also seen countless aftermaths of crashes just driving around town. These experiences are all too common these days.

My parents taught me how to drive, but I am all for professional classes to teach new drivers. Educating people on how to drive safely is the most important step we can take to reduce the number of lives lost to accidents each year. Enforcing traffic laws and taking away licenses are both well and good, but without education, we cannot prevent future accidents and reckless drivers. Another big problem is texting and driving.

Texting while driving is an issue whose circumstances change over time but whose results do not. People can be seriously hurt or killed, so it is imperative to take action against texting and driving. I have been doing my part by staying off my phone when I drive, but also try not to text people when I know that they are driving. The laws against distracted driving are great, but more work needs to be done.

There are a lot of ways of discouraging texting and driving, but ad campaigns seem to be the most common. I would suggest a message change, since many of the ads I have seen do not take into account many of the new features that phones now have. I would love to see ads that tell teens that if they absolutely must use their phones, in an emergency for example, to use voice commands. That way, they can still focus on driving and keep their eyes on the road. I think more ads need to take advantage of the fact that some phones even come with driving mode that prevents any incoming texts from alerting and distracting the driver. Encouraging people to enable this feature is another step we can take towards keeping people safe on the road.

The steps I am and will be taking to become a better driver include managing my speed, actively checking my mirrors, and turning off my phone while driving. Something my family does is use a tracking app, so we know where we are in case of emergency; the app also tells us about driving habits. Being aware of bad habits helps me to get rid of them, and I think this could also be a tool others use to combat reckless driving.

Ensuring road safety is something we can all help with, and we must drive safely for ourselves and for those around us. If I could give every new driver one message it would be that your life is worth more than any text message, being a little late to work/school, and the time it takes to wait at a light. Be a good example on the road, not another casualty statistic.