Expect the Unexpected

Driving
has become an everyday occurance for most people, and it is most
likely one of the most dangerous parts of their day. Teens especially
are at risk of the detrimental effects that come alongside driving:
car accidents. This isn’t because they are necessarily bad drivers,
but rather because they don’t have enough experience on the road to
know how to effectively pay attention and anticipate possible
hazards. This is why drivers ed is important in reducing the
number of deaths as a result of driving. In California, teens must
take a written permit test, participate in three two hour drivers
education classes, and finally take the physical driving test. The
drivers ed classes particularly give aspiring drivers an
opportunity to get behind the wheel, learn how to operate a car, and
practice their driving skills. This is important because instructors
teach the drivers important things that can prevent accidents, such
as when you have the right of way in a situation and how to
effectively stop the car in a safe manner if there’s an emergency.

In
order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, we should
make it so aspiring drivers have more required driving hours with
their parents before they can get behind the wheel alone. When I
first went to driving school, they gave us a sheet to fill out that
logs the number of hours I spent driving with one of my parents
supervision. They never once checked that sheet, so they had no idea
if I got those required driving hours done (which I did). In schools,
it is important to teach the dangers of driving, especially
distracted driving. My school has a program called “Impact” give
a schoolwide presentation, where they teach us what distracted
driving is and how to prevent it. They also share a story of a teen
who died because they were in a car with a distracted driver, then
have the parents come out and talk to us about it. We don’t realize
how dangerous distracting is because we think “that would never
happen to me, the odds are too small.”

I
can tell you that the odds are not in your favor. Even if you aren’t
a distracted driver, the drivers around you may be. The day after
Christmas, I was driving my little sister to Little Caesars so we
could get their crazy bread for dinner. I was driving right around
the street from my grandma’s house. A car wasn’t paying attention
and turned from the other side of the road into my lane, leading me
to hit the side of their car because it happened so suddenly.

People
need to know how dangerous cars are by educating themselves on the
statistics. We also need to practice being safe passengers. Being a
passenger and going on your phone can be distracting for the driver,
so put your phone down and encourage the driver to pay attention. Be
safe. Keep your eyes open. Expect the unexpected.