Safer Driving Means a Safer World

No one knows when their last day on earth will be. It could be today, tomorrow, or the next. But everyone assumes it won’t happen in a car. Little do they know, it could be because of the decisions they make. They assume they are safe just because they’re “careful.”

One mistake can change everything while driving a car. You look away at your phone or look at the radio for half a second and then BOOM! You wrecked your car and took the chance playing with your life or someone else’s. You’re driving a two ton metal behemoth and assume just because you passed a test that you’re an expert and won’t ever get in a wreck, but that is not the case. Anything could happen on the road and that is why you must be aware and constantly pay attention at all times.

Driver education is a very important thing and the people in charge of administering tests and licenses do a good job telling people about the dangers of the road through online courses. Although they do a good job they need to help remind people of these dangers after the fact. When people know what can happen to them, they get more cautious. When I went white water rafting last summer, I was super excited and ready to do anything, but then the instructors told us the dangers and of how many people got hurt from doing stupid things. It put the fun rafting trip into perspective as anything I do can put my life or another’s in jeopardy because of my actions. It made me more cautious and watchful for dangerous actions. It’s just like driving a car, anything can happen on the road. All you can do is be cautious and be aware of what you’re doing. That is why telling people and making them understand the dangers and importance of cautious driving can actually help them. Once they know the risk, they won’t end up making that same mistake as before.

One of the biggest reasons for car accidents is distracted driving. Just looking at their phone or playing with the radio in the car can be a fatal mistake for many. One way this can be reduced, especially texting while driving, is by having one’s phone on “do not disturb” and out of sight from the driver. This way they aren’t pressured to answer it once they get a notification. The pressure is eliminated so then drivers are more focused on the roads and not on who liked their Instagram post or who texted in the group chat. A phone message isn’t more important than yours or someone else’s life.

Luckily I, myself have never been in a car accident or in a situation where I was close to being in one, but I do have a friend that nearly lost her life because of a reckless driver. One morning before school, she was turning out of her neighborhood at the light in front of it. Her light turned green and she proceeded through the intersection when out of nowhere an SUV came slamming into the driver side of the car. The SUV ran a red light going 60 miles per hour because he was distracted. She was the third person to go through the intersection when her light turned green and the SUV still ran the light. Everything went black and she woke up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Her car was totaled and she walked away thankfully with only a couple scratches and bruises. This incident all could have been avoided if this person wasn’t distracted on an early morning commute. Her life was put in jeopardy just because someone was not paying attention one morning.

The story was to highlight the dangers of distracted driving and how it can affect a person. All because someone didn’t pay attention to their red light or wanted to send a text to someone. This incident shows how deadly driving can be and why we need to light the way for drivers in the future. We have to show them that their actions have consequences and that their actions affect more than just themselves. It’s not just one person who can make the difference but everyone can, even myself.

The steps I will take to help keep myself and others safe is by not letting my phone distract me. I will keep my phone away from my view and not allow notifications to distract me by putting my phone in “do not disturb”. Many phones and apps have a car mode now to ensure that while I’m driving, those certain apps can not be accessed so it does not allow me to be distracted. Another way I can be better is by not having my radio so loud because that does distract me from the road because I’m focusing more of my attention on the music than I should be.

We’re not perfect, but by following safety guidelines and tips for driving, we can be better. We can be safer and more aware of the responsibilities we have on the road. In the future, we can lower the accidents caused by distracted driving and hopefully bring a day where it isn’t so much of an issue as today. That’s the hope, and by learning from our mistakes from the past, maybe we can. It all starts with one person being responsible and safe on the road.