Driving Cars Should Not Put You Behind Bars

Being safe while driving is not something one with a limited lifespan should take lightly, especially when imagining the consequences of a car crash. You ask yourself why you cannot move, why your car is damaged beyond repair, or why all you can see are red, blue, and possibly a single bright white light in your vicinity. Driver’s education courses are essential because they save lives. However, they have to be promoted and incentivized by drivers before these lessons can progress into one’s daily habits and prevent vehicle deaths from happening. To avoid future consequences, one must be able to picture uncomfortable and possibly grotesque images of situations that can occur when the driver lacks education. Through this awareness, drivers can focus on what is important when driving—to be attentive and cautious of their surroundings.

Driving without distractions does not necessarily require any progressive steps but rather specific tasks that inexperienced drivers can complete to increase their knowledge of the road, its signs, and how to handle everyday events that can occur in daily life. These include purchasing a driver’s education manual, hiring a tutor, attending classes in traffic school, or having a family member/friend provide advice. To reduce the number of deaths, one must have the patience to complete these tasks regardless of how much time is needed to learn from them. As stated above, there are no specific steps that drivers have to undergo and progress forward with; instead, they need to obtain the ability to retain information and apply it to various situations. In this case, on the road where anything or anyone can amount to chaos. For example, my friend, who would like to remain anonymous, recently experienced the event of crashing their car into a speeding driver. However, for this essay, I will name them Kim.

The person who ignored the law and instead pushed their gas pedal on the road was a parent who was late to take their children to school. My friend is a college student who, at the time, was also departing to class but was late due to the negligence of the parent. In detail, the car crash happened when Kim was at a stop sign and tried to leave an alleyway by making a right turn onto the main road. She looked at the road and saw that no one was turning the corner onto the street she would drive on. However, even when driving out slowly, this parent, in Kim’s words, sped beyond what the most focused eye could not see and caused her to crash into the middle of their minivan. Luckily, even with a direct impact, neither the drivers nor the children inside were hurt. Their cars were all damaged—the dents, the broken glass, and the released airbags.

Although nobody was hurt or had to go to the hospital in this case, every person should not ignore that a more disastrous and life-threatening event may have happened to the point where one of them could be dead today. I mention everyone because although drivers have the primary responsibility for others out on the open road, streetwalkers and passengers inside the vehicles also have tasks that they need to complete to ensure that maximum safety of the road is accomplished and maintained. For example, if one were to stupidly cross onto a highway, regardless of how empty it may look, without looking both ways or waiting for the traffic light to signal them to walk, they could end up in the hospital because of their recklessness. That being said, jaywalking should be strictly prohibited and ensure forceful punishment for the freelancers who commit the deed with no care for what happens to them or others. And although there are no specific progressive steps a driver can take to become a safer driver, it is relatively valid for reducing the number of driving-related deaths. In my opinion, there should be at least three steps people should follow.

The first and most crucial step is to realize the consequences of death and how life can fade away instantly, whether it would be an accidental one or not. This uncomfortable and possibly grotesque image will help motivate young drivers to acknowledge how blood can be on their hands when they, unintentionally or not, kill someone using their vehicle as a weapon. Furthermore, with these pictures inside one’s head, once they begin preparing to obtain their license or practice driving out on the road, they can use these hypothetical situations as not conjurors of fear but rather as excuses to become a safer driver. The second step would be to harness one’s ability to control their emotions while driving. Road rage exists and drama from reality; without stability in life, you as the driver can transfer these emotions while operating, whether through tears or anger. Everyone must focus on what is happening before them during the present without worrying too much about the past or future since they should not factor into saving someone else’s and possibly their own life. Therefore, to complete the third and final step, one must practice driving out on the open road as a skill and becoming more attentive and cautious of their surroundings to decrease the number of deadly mistakes.

Although driving can be fun and exciting, it is not a game. Driver’s education courses are a necessity because it popularizes and strengthens the argument for the common goal of road safety and preventing vehicle deaths from happening. Yes, I agree that one can make various mistakes accidentally in life. However, the truth of the matter is that if one does not have the patience to take the time to educate themselves as a driver further, they are ultimately accomplishing a disservice to their community. These ignorant people are causing the disruption in maximum safety all communities need and therefore have the blood on their hands no matter if they physically caused the deaths. Do you now know why you see these lights and what they mean?