Responsible Drivers for a Brighter Future

Crippling
with fear and anxiety, I positioned myself in the front seat of my
parents’ 2008 Dodge Durango. Sun was shining, a slight overcast was
present, and I was more than ready to embark on the beginning of my
journey as a newly permitted driver. Nervously I questioned, “I’m
ready to start, but what if I hit somebody or someone else’s car?”
My dad laughed in response. “Well, let’s just hope not because
after all those hours in Drivers Ed you should be prepared to take
on this responsibility”. And he was right, thanks to my Driver’s
Education course, I was well-informed and ready to start driving.

Driver’s
Education is extremely vital to a desired driver because not only is
it the law, but the knowledge one obtains from hours in a classroom
focused on driving safety is used throughout the next 50+ years of
that individual’s life. Learning pieces of information like who has
the right of way in each traffic scenario and simple things, such as
which side of the road to park on, allows for young teenagers to
prepare for the safest way to go about being a responsible driver,
thus reducing the number of deaths caused by driving-related
accidents. In addition to obtaining and applying the information
taught in the classroom or behind the wheel, drivers should take the
steps of ensuring that all passengers are wearing seatbelts,
proceeding with caution in regards to the speed limit, and being in a
high-quality state of mind when behind the wheel, all to reduce the
overall deaths related to driving.

As
unfortunate as it is, I have been involved in a couple of car
accidents growing up; while my father had stopped at a crosswalk for
pedestrians, everything flashed before my eyes in a second and I was
smushed up against the front seat. What had happened? A woman in an
SUV, bigger than my father’s Buick, rammed into our car with force
because she was unaware that we were stopped. Why you may ask? It all
lied within a leading cause of distracted driving, she was on her
cell-phone. Thankfully, the extent to our injuries from the crash
included whiplash, but the situation opened my eyes later in life, as
I was able to see first-hand the impact distracted driving can have
not only on the driver, but on the lives of others. If it weren’t
for the rate of speed in which she was going and for our protective
seat belts, the injuries of my family members and I could have been
much worse.

Given
that I have been actively driving for two years now, I’ve come to
train myself to drive as responsibly as I can to the best of my
abilities. When I am behind the wheel, I make sure that my phone is
either tucked away or on the seat next to me, face down so that I do
not become distracted by the plethora of notifications beaming on the
screen. Additionally, I will never leave one location to go to the
next without securing my seatbelt and making sure that all of my
passengers have theirs on as well.

To
ensure the safety of the drivers around me, I always ensure that my
friends follow the same precautions as I do, for their safety and
mine. It is crucial to identify and point out driving safety hazards
when they are present because if ignored, it could cost a life.