Our Safe Roads

Driver
education is a vital tool in guiding safer and more responsible
driving habits amongst the millions of drivers. By providing a tool
as such to young drivers, the next generation of drivers is more
aware of the correct or proper ways of the road. In classes such as
Drivers ed students learn about the effects of alcohol,
marijuana, and numerous other drugs on one’s driving abilities.
Not only that, but the students are shown terrifying and dreadful
stories of people who injured or killed others while behind the
wheel. This reinforced the ideas of only driving when being both
mentally and physically cable to in order to keep the roads safe.
Yet, a class as such is not the only way to reduce the number of
deaths from driving.

Other
ways of reducing the number of deaths from driving include
redesigning poorly made roads or placed signs. In many lower income
communities, the focus on road conditions is minimal due to the lack
of funding leading to unsafe roads for drivers as well as
pedestrians. According to the American Journal of Public Health the
potential injuries amongst pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists is
increased within lower income communities due to road conditions and
the amount of traffic. Another way of reducing the number of deaths
is by implementing speedbumps on neighborhood roads. This would
decrease the potential of car crashes, property damage, or
pedestrians being hit by highspeed or irresponsible drivers. Another
way of reducing death from driving is by having more monitoring on
roads that can catch risky drivers. This monitoring can be either
from police or cameras in order to reduce unsafe driving, death, and
potential car accidents as it would result in more tickets being
given to those who choose to not follow the law.

On
the note of car accidents, I myself have experienced both a car
accident and some friends driving irresponsibly. With the car
accident a lady t-boned my dad and I at a two-way stop sign in which
she did not come to a complete stop, nor did she see us coming. My
experience in the car accident gave me perspective on driving more
aware and always checking both ways. This helped me for when I
became a driver as I knew that being attentive while driving is
crucial to having safe roads and avoiding any potential hazardous
situations. Another lesson from this I learned is that while driving
you want to ensure not only that safety of yourself, but the safety
of other drivers and potential pedestrians near the roads.

The
way I can be a better and safer driver is just simply by being an
aware driver and by following state and local laws in order to avoid
any potential life-threatening situations. To help others, I can
give them the knowledge that I learned from the Drivers ed
course in order to help give them a better understanding and
perspective on the potential results that could come from unsafe
driving.