Appreciate what you have, while you have it.

Appreciate what you have,
while you have it

The
idea of losing one of my family members or close friends physically
hurts me to think about. I can’t imagine a life where I could not
call best friends to rant about the stresses of school, or talk to my
mom about how I am going to afford college. Since I have never been
in a car accident, this is what motivates me to drive safely. I drive
safely to do my part in society so others can keep their families and
best friends too. This is an idea that I try to talk about as much as
possible with people, especially young drivers. Getting your permit
and then your driver’s license is so exciting, it can be very easy
to lose appreciation for the privilege that it is. The fact is:
driving is incredibly dangerous.

Driver’s
education is more than the state-mandated course we have to take to
get our permit. Drivers ed is also how the people we ride
with influence us. For example, a common trend is parents not being
responsible drivers but then expecting their children to be
responsible drivers. Although I do see where the parents are coming
from, they are the biggest impression on how their children perceive
‘safe driving’. If children see their parents drinking, texting,
and speeding while they drive, then chances are that their children
will eventually do that too. The biggest key in creating a generation
of safe drivers, is demonstrating safe and responsible driving to
them when they are young and impressionable. The payoff from this
will be safer driving, and less deaths due to driving in the future.

Although
I have never been in a car accident, I have heard many stories about
them. My mom works as a nurse in the emergency room and my dad has
worked as a police officer is currently a fireman so they have told
me many terrifying stories about car accidents. All of these stories
have most certainly influenced how I drive. I definitely believe that
exposing people to the worst case scenario of driving is effective in
producing smarter, more thoughtful drivers.

Ultimately,
the way to save lives on the road is by having better, smarter, and
safer drivers, which also means better drivers ed. One
saying that many of my teachers and mentors say to me is “failure
leads to success”. As true as that may be, it does not apply to
driving. Although a driving failure may be something as simple as a
speeding or parking ticket, a driving failure could also be something
as major as death. The worst case scenario failure as a driver
happens more frequently than most people may think. Why should we
wait until something happens to start driving safer?