Drivers Safety

What did the traffic light say to the car?

Don’t look. I’m changing. 

Safe driving is no joke. While there are so many obvious advantages to driving, people tend to forget it can also be one of the most dangerous activities in the world. Every year in the United States, driver fatalities increase. In 2021 there were over 39,000 car crashes resulting in nearly 43,000 deaths. In order to combat this we need to educate the importance of driver safety. 

Before I got my license I took a drivers education course through a Driving School. The course I took gave me so much knowledge. Without it, I would not know the rules of the road and all of the consequences of irresponsible driving. As a teenager, I see reckless drivers in our school parking lot daily. Speeding, backing up without checking for pedestrians and texting while driving are very common. And that’s just in the parking lot!

Last year, I was in a car accident while I was riding with my friend Dade. When we approached the stop light there was an oncoming van car who sped through the yellow light. Dade was a new and inexperienced driver. He assumed the van would stop at the yellow light, but that didn’t happen. In order to make the light, the driver sped up to 55 miles per hour, which was 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. Dade failed to yield when he was turning left so he hit the speeding van. Luckily, no one was hurt, but Dade’s car was totaled. Dade was blamed for the accident, even though the other driver was clearly speeding. Unfortunately, Dade did not take a drivers ed course and this is a big reason why he was in the crash. If he would have taken a course he would have known that he should have waited for the car to clear the intersection before turning. Luckily for us there were no fatalities, but in other cases the consequences of failing to know the rules of the road result in death. This is why becoming educated in driving is so important. Not only does it increase your safety, but it also increases everyone else’s. 

When I was young, we had a nanny, Grace, who was in a car with four of her friends while the driver was intoxicated and driving recklessly. The driver ran into a bridge and in a flash, half of Grace’s best friends were dead. At the time I saw how much it affected Grace and how devastated she was. She took some time off from being a nanny and when she came back she wasn’t the same. She was always quiet and sad. I didn’t understand it all then, but now that I’m older I think that is a big reason why I drive safely. I would never want to have a negative impact on my family if I died because of irresponsible driving. Plus, I can’t imagine losing my best friends and never getting the chance to see them again.

There are many steps we can take in order to reduce driving fatalities and accidents. The obvious answer is to take a drivers education course, but sometimes the obvious answer is the right one. What I learned in the course was so impactful and I still remember it. The most effective way to reduce the number of deaths from driving each year is to simply focus on the basics every time. People forget how important fundamentals are, but just like with sports and academics, it’s vital to have a strong foundation before you can add on other skills. The basics are wearing a seatbelt and ensuring your car is safe enough to drive. We need to check our mirrors and make sure no one is in our blind spot when we’re trying to pull out of a parking stall. A simple checklist on the dashboard that outlines these steps would be an easy addition for new drivers to refer to each time they get into their cars. It’s easy to get distracted in this day and age. I can tell you from experience, it’s hard to avoid turning the dial up when a Luke Combs song comes on the radio. To become a better and safer driver, we should ask for feedback from a parent, sibling or driver instructor. To hear that feedback, we need to make sure the volume on the radio is turned down. 

We can study all the rules and read every book about driver’s safety but if we cannot put it into action it is pointless. While I truly believe the basics are crucial, I can passionately say the most important thing to do is to never drive not driving while under the influence. Drugs and alcohol cause people to make unsafe decisions that can last a lifetime. If we all focus on the basics every time and avoid drugs and alcohol, drivers could significantly reduce the chances of killing themselves or others. Plus, it would make the road a much safer place to drive in.