Just drive safely, it’s not that hard

Being able to drive is a great freedom that we all love, it’s many people’s first step into adulthood and it’s such an important tool in our daily lives that we have grown so used to. Unfortunately, some of us have not been taking care of this tool and are starting to get too comfortable with driving without using the right precautions and safety requirements that we need to keep us and everyone around us safe. There are many ways to be safe while driving and to be a better driver.

One of the most important ways to stay safe while driving is to STAY FOCUSED! You would not believe the number of people that get into car accidents just because they don’t follow the most basic rule of keeping their eyes on the road. This means that you need to be avoiding distractions like your phone, eating, and even checking yourself out in the mirror to see if you look good. As much as I know how tempting these things are, they aren’t worth your life to do while you drive. I know you may think of me as dramatic but just imagine this scenario with me, It’s a beautiful sunny day and you decide to go enjoy it by taking a ride in your car. As your driving, you see a traffic light ahead that goes red as you approach so naturally, you stop. While waiting for the light to turn green you hear a notification from your phone and absentmindedly reach to grab it and check to see what it was,” it’ll only take a second so it’s not a big deal right?” you think to yourself. As you scroll on your phone that “one second” turns into more like one minute and you don’t notice the light turning green until you hear a loud HONK HONK come from the car behind you. This startles you as you quickly press on the gas without any thought, but oh no! You didn’t see that a car on the opposite side was also making a turn! Before you even realize your mistake, it’s already too late as your car slams into them. You may not realize but when you don’t give your full attention to the road while driving you’re not only putting yourself at risk but also putting the lives of others at risk too.

If you are worried that this scenario might come true for you one day (which is not actually that surprising since the average American can experience 3-4 car collisions in a lifetime) there’s no need to worry, it’s not that hard to be a safe driver as long as you follow these basic rules. First of all, you must ALWAYS follow the traffic laws and be constantly aware of your surroundings, just because you model good driving habits, it doesn’t mean that everyone else around you will so you need to be sure that you can avoid an accident if you happen to see someone not being a good driver. Secondly, you need to put that phone away, yes it’s tempting to go on but you bring up the risk of being in a car crash by basically 100%. If you’re easily tempted by it then I recommend putting it on silent so you don’t hear any notifications and if you already know the location of where you’re going then just chuck that bad boy in the backseat where you won’t see nor hear it. And thirdly, if you know people that have these bad habits make sure to say something, you don’t want to hear about them getting into an accident knowing you could have prevented it somehow. Before I forget to mention do NOT DRINK AND DRIVE! I can’t understand why people think it’s okay to consume alcohol and drugs and think that they’ll be able to safely handle driving a 3,000-pound hunk of metal, and if you are one of those people that think they can, you can’t. I shouldn’t have to explain that basic knowledge to you, also wear your seatbelts, it doesn’t matter if your only going down the street, there’s a reason every car has seatbelts in them and it’s not just to look cool it’s there to keep you safe. Please don’t be dumb and be safe on the road for yourself and for others as well.