Driving is a Luxury

When we are young, we all dream of the day that we finally will be able to drive. The overwhelming excitement of finally getting our license and getting to drive is a milestone moment in all of our lives. When we are young, we often think we know best so don’t want to listen to our parents who tell us that we need to continue practicing our skills and that we’re not quite ready for the road. As exciting as the freedom of being able to drive yourself around is, it’s worth waiting to be able to freely drive on the road as one needs to be certain of all the rules and regulations. Getting your license is more than just passing a test or driving a couple of blocks. A car is a weapon that can either take your life or others if we are not cautious. Driving may seem fun at first but is a huge responsibility that needs to be taken seriously. It’s more than just cramming to pass your permit test or practicing a couple of hours in an empty parking lot. Taking the time to properly educate yourself on what all the signs mean, how to navigate on different streets, and always pay attention to your surroundings is crucial for safety. It’s been a year now since I was in a car accident, something I thought I would never go through. Luckily the only thing lost were the cars and not the people’s lives but not all incidents can say the same. Car accidents can be fatal and life changing and although they seem like something out of your control you can make sure you’re doing your part to keep the roads safe. My car accident experience was something extremely traumatizing which I do not wish on anyone, and I still deal with the aftermath effects such as driving anxiety, but it goes to show how important proper driving education is. My car accident took place at a four way stop. Knowing the rules of the road such as when it’s your turn to go, where you can turn, where you can enter, although they seem simple those little mistakes could cost someone their life. For some people driving is an adrenaline rush, they speed, take sharp corners, spin in circles, and a variety of other things to appear “cool” but those short periods of “fun” is not worth them possibly losing their lives or taking away someone else’s. To continue to make driving safer they need to continue pushing current regulations such as click it or ticket, don’t text and drive, giving tickets for speeding, and things of that sort so that people think twice before participating in reckless behavior. Some people do not take those things seriously so reinforcement in programs such as point system which could lead to possible revocation of license and incentive programs through insurances that positively reward safe drivers could also make a huge difference. Although in most environments it seems like driving is a necessity as you need it to get to all your destinations in reality it is a luxury that you have to earn and take seriously as all is on the line every time you get behind the wheel. Driving education needs to be more accessible to everyone so continuing to offer it through school programs, making it affordable for those who need it, and making it a requirement before any driver’s test is crucial to ensure that everybody understands the correct laws. Driving seems like something basic so many people find the rulebook tedious and skim through it just to make sure that they are passing a test but there needs to be better ways in which the material is taught so that it genuinely sticks with the individual. There are many people who have their license who still don’t fully understand all the regulations and who aren’t the safest drivers so their qualifications should have been reconsidered. One thing that they could do to make the learning experience more interactive is incorporate driving simulators to teach individuals how to react under pressure, how to handle a variety of different real-life situations, and possibly even know what a car crash feels like so that they try their best never to be in that situation. Sometimes in driving safety courses they will show the aftermath of a car crash which most people just brush off but possibly going into further detail of everything that comes with it will allow people to take things more seriously. Discussing details such as what it costs to get a new car, how much medical bills can be, afterwards the prices of your insurance changing, all those difficult factors will allow people to see the bigger picture of a situation that they don’t want to be in. Driving safety is important and it is something that we hear often but at this point for some people it’s just background noise and not something taken seriously so more interactive approaches need to happen in order for people to truly comprehend the severity behind this.