Educational Driving

Educational Driving

On
September 20th, 2019 I was with my best friend, driving to school
when we were both in a major car accident. A car’s brakes failed
and it rear-ended me at 50 mph, pushing me into the car in front. My
car got totaled and it was one of the scariest experiences of my
life. At that moment, I knew first hand how dangerous driving can be.
Throughout earning my license I knew that accidents were scary and
dangerous, but I never knew the weight of the situation until I was
in one.

It
is important to go over even the most obvious rules of the road,
because it is not safe to assume that they know them and people
sometimes need to be reminded of them. I have seen cars go during a
red light, not when the light is turning red, when it has been red.
Another importance of drivers ed is knowing what signs mean. I
had to learn what every sign meant during my driving education and I
am grateful for that because I did not know what many of them meant.

Some
steps that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to
driving are building safe and easy to follow roadways to guide
drivers into not hitting each other. My city is known for having many
roundabouts, and near my house the city planners have replaced a
major intersection with a roundabout. Usually, the roundabouts
throughout the city are small and you can see all entry points into
the roundabout. But, the roundabout they built to replace the
intersection is massive and at an angle. This means it is hard to see
incoming traffic from all perspectives. It is hard to see when to go,
and if someone makes a mistake to go when they are not supposed to,
you have to swerve in an active roundabout to avoid them. It has been
appropriately nicknamed: “The Roundabout of Death” because of how
many accidents happen there. The city has tried to fix it by
repainting the lanes so it is less confusing, but accidents still
happen and I go out of my way to avoid the roundabout.

Some
steps that I could take to help others be safer on the road is to do
the navigation and DJing during car rides. When I am with my mom, I
always pick up her phone if she is driving or I change the station
for her because it is not safe to be distracted on the road. A step I
could take to be a safer driver is to not play incredibly catchy
music while driving. I love music but I do not get to enjoy it often
and if I get too into a song, I forget what is around me. This is
dangerous while driving so I am better off playing songs that I like,
but don’t love.