The Importance of Safe Driving

Becoming a driver is a very exciting time for anyone. You can now drive to a friend’s house, go shopping, travel, and have much more freedom than it seems you ever had before. Getting your license opens a whole new world to people. The only thing is that even with all the fun you get to have driving, there are many dangers associated with it too. Many people don’t realize just how dangerous and deadly driving can be. They don’t see the potential harm that could come from driving their vehicle carelessly or by being unobservant. The importance of safe driving should never be underestimated.

One of the first steps towards driving safety is going to a driver’s training course before obtaining your license. In Minnesota every student is required to spend thirty hours in a driver’s training class and get 6 hours of instructor supervised driving time before obtaining their license. The instructors teach you all that you need to know about driving in order to keep you, your passengers, and other drivers as safe on the roads as possible. Drivers training education courses are very important. The instructors teach you how to follow road signs, road markings, traffic lights, and anything you need to know to be a good driver. Lastly, they also inform you of the dangers of being a careless driver. When I was in drivers’ education, I remember being shown videos of people getting into car accidents, so we had a visual picture of what it was actually like. Watching those videos really impacted me as I saw so many people badly injured or even killed in car accidents. The course really emphasizes on being a responsible driver. Some main examples of being a responsible driver would be not driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, not texting while driving, and not driving without a seat belt. Without these driver education courses there would be so many more driving related incidents in the world.

Along with drivers training, there are many other ways that driving related accidents can be reduced. One of the first examples is determining whether someone is fit to drive. Parents especially can be a big part of this decision when it comes to their teens driving. Even if a teenager goes through a driver’s training course and knows “how to drive,” doesn’t mean they are a good driver. If a parent doesn’t believe that their child is a safe and responsible driver, they have the authority to make their teen wait longer. Even though this might be a hard decision for the parent to make, in the end it could save the life of their child and other drivers. The same goes for everyone. If you believe that yourself or someone you know is not fit for driving, make sure you do something about it. Find them a different form of transportation until they can show that they can drive responsibly and safely. Another action that can be done to make roads safer is making sure your vehicle itself is safe for the roads. If your vehicle has anything from bad brakes, a broken windshield, or even bad headlights you should repair it before driving. Having a broken car can lead to a higher risk of having an accident. These along with many other measures are just a few examples of safety precautions people can take in order to prevent accidents.

When it comes to my own personal experience with car accidents, I haven’t been in any terrible accidents. I do however know that even a minor accident can cause a lot of harm. I was in one minor accident a couple of months ago. I was driving in town with my fifteen-year-old brother on the way to bring him to soccer practice. We were going down a big hill that is right in town in Grand Rapids Minnesota. There was a long line of cars going halfway up the hill because of red lights so I slowly came to a stop behind the cars. I was then talking to my brother and about to take a drink of my Starbucks when bam, someone rear ended my car. A minivan had come flying up behind us and wasn’t paying any attention to the road or the fact that all the cars were stopped. The lady slammed right into the back of my car and both me and my brother jolted forward as I held the brake trying not to hit the car in front of us. I never even saw the minivan coming and it really scared me. The traffic was still really bad and not wanting to talk to the lady in the middle of the road I pulled into a nearby parking lot and the minivan followed. Thankfully no one was hurt just some damage to our vehicles in which we exchanged insurance. That day taught me the importance of paying attention while driving and to always wear your seat belt. If my brother and I hadn’t had been wearing seat belts we might have hit the dash and steering wheel and gotten injured. Always be observant of what is going on around you while driving.

Never abuse the amazing opportunity that you get from driving because it can cause problems for not only you but for others as well. You should always be smart and make sure you aren’t distracted, under the influence, or texting while driving. Following just these simple steps can make a big difference between life and death on the road. The roads would be a much safer place if people would follow the driving topics we discussed. Never disregard how important it is to drive safely.