It Takes All of Us

As I sit here writing this essay my whole mindset on safe driving, drivers education, and keeping everyone safe on the road has changed quite drastically. A little over 24 hours ago (March 23rd) I was in my first ever accident and it was pretty severe. I was in the middle of an intersection waiting for an opportunity to turn left as oncoming traffic was coming by. I lost my focus and was looking off the road into a different lane that was also trying to turn the same way and I began turning and as I was turning I looked back into the oncoming lanes in front me and unfortunately it was too late. Luckily both of us were ok, but seconds after this happened as I was sitting in my car- that was now covered in glass on the floor and chairs from my windows- I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that it really happened to me. Up until that point I had only ever seen cars that looked like mine in drivers ed class, sitting in that class thinking to myself, “This is stupid this will never happen to me.” That was my first mistake as I began driving when I was 16, and that was that I thought I was invincible and it would never happen to me until it did just around 24 hours before I sat down to write this essay.

Drivers education is one of the most important things a new driver goes through to make sure they are well prepared for the road. Not only does this class prepare you for driving but it also teaches you safe driving habits that you will carry on for the rest of your life. The role that this class plays in reducing deaths around the globe should not go unnoticed because if it weren’t for them we would have higher numbers than the already alarming numbers we have right now. As many teenagers do, including myself, I did not take drivers ed seriously, I thought I did not need this class and would laugh and make jokes just like everyone else who went to that same class with me. I can assure you now though, if I could go back after what happened I would no longer be laughing along with everyone else, and I could unfortunately relate to the pictures they display in that class. After experiencing that sort of trauma I will always go back to that moment and feeling whenever I am on the road, as that is something I do not want to relive ever again.

Steps everyone can take to reduce the number of deaths on the road is to practice safe driving habits, defensive driving, and drive confidently with practice. Safe driving habits are formed in drivers ed such as two hands on the wheel, a three car gap between you and the next car, and no distractions on the car. These are all things every driver should practice- yet a difficult task for some. When all drivers practice safe driving this will no longer be a problem. These are all things people can work on to improve the safety of the roads in which we drive on, and reduce the number of deaths by car accidents in the next few years.

There are a few things I can work on as well to do my part in bringing consistent safety to the roads. These things include, not driving angry, driving with no distractions such as phone calls and music- doing these things will make me a safer driver on the roads. Staying cool headed on the road is a very important thing for me to work on, whether it be after school, work, or a bad morning it is easy to get angry on the roads- as it is for most. I will work on calming down before getting on the road so I do not drive aggressively and thrash out on the roads- doing something I would regret- such as what happened yesterday. The other one and quite frankly the harder one is no distractions- playing music on Spotify is something I can continue to do but steps can be taken to make this safer. I can queue songs up before I am on the road so I am not distracted looking for songs while driving. Both of these things I can work on in making myself a better driver, as well as keeping me and the other drivers around me safe on the roads.

Lastly, what we have to realize is that this takes a group effort- it can’t just be one person doing these things, it takes all of us. What I am hoping is that the people reading this can take something away from this as we all begin our journey to making the roads safe for everyone, and reducing the number of yearly deaths due to cars.