Driving Essay

Driver education is imperative in reducing vehicle accident deaths. People need to learn all the rules of the road that keep not only themselves but others safe. One rule I see people tend to not follow very well is that they are supposed to keep so much distance from the car in front of them while driving and while stopped anywhere like at a stop sign or stop light. People get too close to the other vehicle and it causes danger. When people are taught those rules and taught to follow them, that only means there are more safe drivers on the road following the actual road rules set to keep everyone safe. Some steps that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving are to have more strict testing at the driver’s license bureau, along with having people take driving tests every year and maybe even more than once a year could start to possibly reduce the deaths related to driving. It would be more work for the DMV’s, but if that extra work is going to save lives, it is well worth it. The government could start new laws and regulations regarding driver’s license testing. I think not allowing people after a certain age to be able to have a driver’s license and drive anymore is imperative too, because I have seen many older people driving so slow and unconfident that they are actually putting others on the road at danger as well as themselves because someone could drive up on them and easily rear end them expecting them to be driving the regular speed limit, or any number of other dangerous situations. People get impatient and a lot of times have a time limit to be somewhere, so they would be trying to pass that older person driving slowly and it all around is a danger to other drivers as well as the elderly driver their self. I think there should be specific laws and regulations once a person reaches a certain mental state in life to where they can no longer keep up with the speeds and rules on the roads, that they should have their license taken away from them. So maybe it is not based upon age but based upon a person’s specific mental state. I do not say that to be mean I say that because I believe it could make the streets safer to drive on for everyone. When I was a young girl, I was in the backseat of my Grandma’s car when we got read ended. That is the only car accident I have ever been in in my life, and thankfully it was not serious or life threatening. I remember feeling my neck sore from the force of the rear ending of the car, but it was not bad enough to be fully whiplash or any long-lasting type of injury. None of us were injured in the car only very mild neck pain from the force of the car hitting us from behind. I at times throughout my youth while driving with my grandmother observed her driving over the speed limit a few too many times because she thought she could get away with it out on the country roads. I remember more than once humorously pointing out to her that the Preacher’s Wife was breaking the law by going over the speed limit. She always focused on the road so I can honestly say I did not see her be a distracted driver. She just was a little foot heavy on the accelerator at times out on the free country roads and I recall pointing that out to her. I also lost that same person who I thought was very close to me in a fatal car accident in the summer of 2012. I will never forget that day and that phone call as long as I live, I remember it as vividly as if it just happened. It took the life of my grandmother, who was more of a mother to me in life than anyone. It shattered my heart and life and I have never been the same since, as I am sure anyone who has lost someone close to a fatal car accident can totally relate. She, unfortunately, was not the only person who had died at that exact same intersection turn, and the cause was due to the lack of a stop light at a very busy high speed turn off where there is a curve that caused a blind spot to the people turning left off that turn. My grandmother is only one of many people from this town and surrounding areas that has lost their life to that deadly turn, and due to the number of fatalities at that intersection, because of my grandmothers death in 2012, the State FINALLY put up a four way stop light at that intersection to prevent any further deaths. It is heartbreaking to know that it is due to the lack of that stoplight is the reason my grandmother got killed, but comforting to know that because of her, NOONE else will ever be in danger again at that intersection as there is now a full 4-way stoplight. I am grateful to know that no one else will ever be in danger at that intersection as it is a highly populated and traveled intersection. So even though I have never been in a serious accident myself, I have felt the repercussions of driving related death very close to my own heart and home. I know how imperative and important it is to educate drivers to the laws and ways of the road, and to follow and abide by them as if our lives depend on it, because they do. I have just written another essay before this one about identifying my own distracted driving habits and how I can take steps to prevent them. By identifying and being honest with oneself about identifying their distracted driving habits is the first step to stopping those habits. Now that I have identified a couple very specific habits that I can honestly consider a distracted driving habit, I can now take steps to consciously prevent those habits and when I feel the urge to look at my phone or use my hand to dig in my purse to retrieve something as I’m driving, I can consciously stop myself and take actions to stop those habits myself. That can eliminate any form of distracted driving I could ever do. I take the safety of not only myself but especially of everyone else I come into near contact with on any road anywhere I am driving very seriously. I know every vehicle has precious lives inside that cannot be replaced, and that are precious and sacred to others out there. I always keep respect for other vehicles and honor them as much as I honor my own safety, because I know when I am driving, that it is MY responsibility and MY responsibility alone to keep my vehicle driving properly and safely, so I can be safe to others on the road as well. Thank you!