How to Save a Life, Or Your Own

How
to Save a Life, Or Your Own

By:
Kathryn Hamilton

In
today’s busy world we often forget to think of others. We get so
caught up in our own life and activities that we forget how much our
decisions in our lives affect someone else’s lives. So here’s the
easy and most important steps to take to be a better driver, and it’s
not too many.

First,
put down anything in your hands while you’re driving, because
honestly it can wait. Trust me that phone call or text is not worth
your life or someone else’s, and I can promise that the person
contacting you would rather wait for you to respond then for you to
risk lives answering them. If it is so urgent and you just have to
answer that person, safely pull over into a shoulder or a nearby
parking lot, put your car in park, and then answer. So to refresh, if
both your hands aren’t on the steering wheel you are doing it
wrong.

Secondly,
the most important aspect of being a driver is thinking of other
people. Be courteous when driving, let that person who was at the
stop sign a split second after you go. Let that person who is pulling
out go. Even on those days where you are in a hurry, let the person
merge into your lane. I promise that the one second you were
thoughtful of someone else didn’t make you late, and the one extra
car didn’t make you miss the light.

Being
thoughtful of other people in general in a good rule of thumb and can
apply to many situations. Here’s another example, if you have been
drinking do not get behind the wheel. No matter how capable you think
you are, you are not just risking your life you are risking someone
else’s. You may think “I’m fine, it’s nothing”, and you get
behind the wheel. You get in a huge accident and end up living, but
guess what you did. You took away someone else’s life, and in fact
many people’s lives. I’ll let you in on a secret, I never met my
Pop-Pop Bill because someone else decided to drink and drive, and
took his life. My Nonna was in the car with him that day, and still
cringes at the site of the crash outside of our neighborhood. My
whole family has been affected by the loss of my Pop-Pop because that
person driving the car didn’t think of anyone else on the road. If
my family’s story doesn’t make you understand what your driving
habits can do, think about what happens to you. If you kill someone
due to irresponsible driving, you go to jail. You will ruin your own
life. So next time you get in a car or behind the wheel, take a
second to think about how your driving will affect someone else.