Driving for life!

 

Education is fundamental in all areas of our lives. Driving correctly preserves life and driving irresponsibly can cause death. That is why driver education is a matter of life or death. What we learn shapes our mindset, and we do what we think. Every driver had a teacher. Satisfactory teaching can prevent traffic deaths. For example, many people suffer accidents when traveling, especially on very long trips, because they did not properly maintain their car before traveling. Every driver’s license course should teach more about car maintenance before traveling. Driver education shapes your actions and this can define your future or the future of other people.

In addition to effective education, other measures that can be taken to reduce traffic fatalities include speed reduction, not drinking before driving, good road maintenance, and knowing the path very well. Altruism is also fundamental in traffic, giving priority to the other driver, in addition to being very kind, can avoid an accident depending on the situation.

From this perspective, the reduction of speed is very relevant. I believe this because I had a friend who always drove too fast, I talked to him about it but he didn’t listen to me, as a result, he had a terrible accident and almost died. During my childhood, I also went through a car accident, and to this day I don’t know the causes of that accident, but I thank God for not dying. I also had a cousin who crashed her car because she fell asleep while driving. So, as simple as it seems, sleeping well before driving is also very important to avoid accidents. Many drivers make stupid mistakes just because they are tired.

But the most shocking reckless driving situation I’ve ever heard of was when a classmate said she crashed her car because she was answering a message on her cell phone instead of looking ahead while driving. Probably, nowadays, cell phone distractions have caused a lot of accidents and so I think that a media campaign about not using cell phones while driving could contribute a lot to road safety.

Additionally, driving schools could promote advertisements that teach about how to avoid accidents. This could be displayed on television and the Internet. These advertisements could make irresponsible drivers aware. I remember seeing a road safety advertisement when I was a kid that had a huge impact at the time. It was the true story of the coach of a famous gymnast, the two had a car accident and the coach became paraplegic. They did a television commercial about road safety. I also saw a campaign on a website made by a young man who lost his mother and sister in a car accident because the driver who hit their car was drunk. The media has enormous power over people, including the power to educate them, so I understand that this subject should be discussed more on television and the Internet.

Also, I understand that learning to drive safely could be taught during childhood at school, children are the drivers of the future, and I am sure that we shouldn’t learn about road safety only when we learn to drive at the appropriate age. Talking about this subject again with young people who are at university can also be very productive, mainly because many of them start drinking alcohol at this age, and drunk drivers are the leading cause of traffic accidents. Another key point is that parents should talk to their children who already drive about traffic, learn about their difficulties, help them, and share experiences.

Personally, as a graduate student, I believe I can become a better and safer driver by leaving my cell phone off while driving, sleeping well the night before driving, leaving the house early so I don’t have to drive in a hurry, and be able to reduce speed and finally know the way well.

And, to help other people be safer on the road and first I would talk to them to find out what their fears and difficulties in traffic are, after listening carefully, I would share what I do to drive better and refer professional help to them if necessary. Furthermore, when we think about safety, we cannot forget about people who are afraid to drive. Indicating good professionals who can help them is very important.

In conclusion, as shown here, there are many problems that hinder traffic safety, such as fear, sleep, alcohol, distractions, cell phones, selfishness, haste, lack of car maintenance, lack of road maintenance, and finally, not knowing well the way. We need to change this through dialogue, through education, with this teaching being done at home, at school, at the university, on television, on the internet, at driving schools, and wherever.