It Starts With Me

It
Starts With Me

Everyone
agrees that people should be educated when it comes to driving.
Despite the fact that almost anyone would agree with that statement,
many people would not be able to say they have put effort into
educating themselves or others on drivers ed. Death tolls rise
every year due to uneducated drivers being on the road. One thing
that I often think to myself is that there are an atrocious amount of
drivers on the roads that have no business operating the vehicle they
are in. Many people know the bare minimum about drivers ed yet
are still allowed to drive every single day. One thing that could
possibly help reduce the number of deaths related to driving, is to
require those with a drivers license to take a tests every other year
(possibly even yearly) on many of the basic laws that every driver
should know before hitting the roads. Another thing would be to
enforce the law more heavily for texting while driving. These laws
will never fully rid those from the roads who text and drive at the
same time, but they have already proven somewhat effective and there
is definitely room to improve.

Personally, I have been in two
accidents. Neither were my fault, and both occurred because the other
driver was engaged with their phone while driving. The most recent
incident occurred last semester. I got a green light to turn left
onto a road and as I did so, a car came barreling through the red
light facing him and crushed the passenger door of my car. While I
was not injured severely, I could not help but think that if I had
anyone sitting in that passenger seat at that time, such as one of my
family members or girlfriend, they most likely would not still be
here today. To this day I still find myself being extra cautious now
when turning onto streets at a big intersection.

While
the story I just told did not result from poor driving education on
my part, that is not to say that I do not have my flaws as well. I do
not text and drive, however I do pick up my phone every now and then
to change a song. What I really should do, is just make a playlist
for when I am in the car and let it play as I drive somewhere. This
would cut down the amount of times I pick up my phone in the car by a
large number. I am sure there are more things I could do to be a more
educated driver, but that truly goes for everyone. Even though I
consider myself to be a responsible driver, it starts with me. If I
say all these things yet do nothing about it, then my points have no
meaning behind them. So, it starts with me, but will you follow?