A Couple Seconds is all it Takes

Alexee
Schmidt

A
Couple Seconds is all it Takes

Driving
is a privilege, and I believe it should be taken more seriously than
teens and adults realize. When you get into a car and shift the gear
out of park and into drive, you are now responsible for not only your
safety but others as well. You cannot control how others drive but
you can control how you choose to drive. Simple things like not
speeding or texting could save a person’s life while behind the
wheel. 

A
common mistake I believe most people overlook is not coming to a
complete stop at a stop sign. The sign is not there just in case
another car approaches, it’s there as a precaution to protect the
pedestrians that also share the road. I have witnessed several adults
in a hurry for work or late to pick up their kids that choose to not
fully stop at a stop sign and then have to slam their brakes because
a kid runs right in front of the car. Although their parent may be
partially at fault, it does not dismiss a driver’s negligence. An
article by Kids and Cars states, “In the U.S. at least fifty
children are being backed over by vehicles every week.” This
devastating statistic is a result of driver’s failure to pay
attention and their neglect to abide by the rules of the road.

 Waking
up every morning to go to school at 7:45 AM, some mornings are harder
than others. In order to make it on time to school, I need to leave
twenty minutes before to beat the traffic. I recommend that everyone
researches how long it will take to travel to your destination and
leave an additional thirty minutes before so there is no need to
rush, minimizing the number of teens speeding in the morning. Another
way to reduce the number of reckless drivers is to place more
speedometers in the streets to alert drivers to how fast they really
are driving.

Electrical
impulses between neutrons are slower in teenagers because our brains
are still developing. The frontal lobe, which controls decision
making and judgement, is the last part of the brain to develop as you
enter your adult years. This causes a lack of rational thinking in
the moment, like a yellow light approaching or a risky lane change.
In fact, a couple months ago a close friend of mine experienced a
concussion just before arriving at school. The driver that caused the
accident had been on their phone seconds before the accident. If the
driver would have resisted the temptation of checking their text,
then the accident would have never happened. The mistake caused my
friend to have migraines for weeks after the collision. The act of
being cautious and aware on the road could potentially save someone’s
life.