Distractions can be Life Threatening

2020
Drivers Ed Online Essay Contest: Distractions can be Life Threatening

Like
most sixteen year olds, as soon as I completed drivers Ed and passed
both tests, I begged my mom for a car and out of the multiple reasons
I bargained with, the only one that seemed to stick was “You
wouldn’t have to drive me to dance every day!” Soon enough my mom
gave in and bought me a 1976 Ford F150 truck from some family friends
for cheap, and that became my first car. I was so eager and excited
to finally be independent that when I finally sat in the driver’s
seat extreme nervousness overcame me and I started to realize the
importance of sixteen year olds really understanding driver
education. Not just the rules and regulations, but the amount of
responsibility it takes to safely drive to protect yourself and
others around you.

The
drivers ed that I received at the B&B Spokane Driver’s
School quickly became useful, the constant reminder to use my blinker
during driving sessions, the checking your surroundings motto, and
maintaining the speed limit all helped. Just remembering these simple
things like all drivers should, will easily reduce the number of
deaths as a result of driving. As a teen driver, we often become
egotistical and over confident during the first year and our phones,
loud music, and our friends easily become a distraction. Some steps
to take to reduce these distractions, is allowing the person in the
passenger seat to text and call for you and handle the aux (music
choice). Teenagers and adults often forget the danger of driving
because they do it so often and it becomes almost systematic, but
society must still remember that there are other people on the road
that may be distracted so one must always maintain focus while
driving.

My
mother has been in multiple car accidents throughout her adulthood,
and in one particular she rolled the car twice just because of some
black ice on the highway. She ended up deflating the air pockets in
between the muscles in her arm and her skin causing extreme pain and
numbness, the doctors were afraid they would have to amputate her
arm, but thankfully the air pockets returned naturally with physical
therapy. This is a clear example of humans driving irresponsibly and
forgetting that something so simple as black ice and speed can cause
totaling your car and possibly physical and mental damage that can
last a lifetime. Some easy steps that myself and others can take to
be a better driver on the road are checking twice that there are no
cars before turning, making lane changes, entering the freeway, etc.,
not texting or calling while driving, maintaining speed limit, using
your blinker, and following all traffic regulations.