
Name: Marquese
Votes: 0
Stop Gassing New Drivers
You wouldn’t get on a plane with an inexperienced pilot. You wouldn’t ride on a train with an unlicensed conductor. So why risk driving without the proper knowledge and preparation. When you go sit down for dinner at your favorite restaurant, the chef prepares your food the way he/she knows how to. They have been to school, graduated, or obtained a license or certificate stating that they have obtained the knowledge and practice necessary to be in the kitchen. The same expectations should be held against unlicensed drivers. Stop getting into vehicles with unlicensed drivers, stop telling your friends that they should go faster on the road. Any influence, not just drugs and alcohol, are causes for mistakes on the road.
As teens often do, they rush to get behind the wheel. They may have driven in a parking lot before, or on a less busy road during the day, but that does not make them equipped drivers. When they reach a light that says “no turn on red” they may not be looking for that sign and make a turn that causes an accident. An unlicensed driver may not know to slow down when exiting on a ramp and instead keep gassing on the turn. Decisions such as this are what contribute to the 38,000 deaths by car crash each year in the United States. Drivers education is of the utmost importance because it equips the driver with the necessary information to avoid obstacles and be safe on the road. If you are a teen who is excited to be on the road, remember that driving is a lot of responsibility, and you cannot panic when you are behind the wheel. It is best when you are learning, to shadow an experienced driver who will tell you what routines you should follow and what dangers you should assess each and every time you are behind the wheel. However, your first and most reliable teachings will come from the drivers education book available at your local DMV.
Just because you are capable of driving does not always mean that you should drive. I remember one time when I should have not driven for as long because I rear -ended another vehicle on the way home. I was driving after school and had to run errands. Had I gone home and slept instead of driving, I could have avoided that accident. I felt myself getting tired so I ended my trip early, however it was too late, I was beginning to get “the stare” and gaze too long at the back of the car in front of me that my eyes had shut on me and within seconds I had woken up to a loud smack and immediately stopped the vehicle. Luckily everyone involved was okay and there were no damages. Incidents like that could be avoided by simply making sure you are assessing all the dangers before you get behind the wheel. Had I properly assessed the situation I would have gone home and taken a nap before getting on the road because I knew I would be out for a while.
Always make sure to keep a mental checklist to keep yourself, and other drivers safe on the road. That checklist should include things such as making sure you and all your passengers have seatbelts, if there is a child riding with you make sure they are in the correct seating position and have child safety locks on their doors. BEFORE YOU ENTER THE VEHICLE you MUST take a moment to walk around the vehicle and perform a safety check. Look for things such as flat tires, nails or sharp objects near your tires, and obstructions or obstacles, and always check your dashboard lights. Being knowledgeable about the laws and dangers of the road can you make a more confident driver. One main flaw that I exhibited when I started learning how to drive on the road, was that I experienced a lack of confidence in my actions. So my ability to assess what the other cars were doing, and what all the signs meant, was dampened because I was not fully aware of my route, and if my actions were eligible. Constantly doubting myself led to being in situations where I either cut somebody off because I was busy looking for signs so I did not see the person slightly behind me in my side mirror.
So I went back to the book, sat down and studied. I imagined myself being behind the wheel in different scenarios, and then when I was confronted with them on the road, I did not have the anxious feeling that I once endured. I was growing confidence as I began to study the book. Short trips no longer required a GPS because I was expanding my knowledge of the roads, which is also apart of drivers education. If you know your route better then you will be able to glance less at a GPS and pay more attention to your surroundings and drive smoothly. You will already know which lane to be in and which roads end where. Paying attention when driving requires using more than just your eyes. You need to see, hear, and gauge your surroundings. So for the new drivers, be sure to study and build your confidence in the the rules of the road, and for the intermediate and seasoned drivers, make sure you complete your mental checklist before getting on the road.