Name: Kaileigh Brown
From: Fremont, New Hampshire
Votes: 0
Being one of the younger students in my grade, I got my license
considerably later than most of my friends. This resulted in me being
carted around by other new drivers whenever I wanted to spend time
with my friends. For the most part, my friends were cautious,
especially when they were driving other people. Unfortunately, my
best friend was not so careful.
Her faults while driving started small and seemingly insignificant.
She would glance at her phone only to change the song or check to
make sure she took the right turn when using the GPS. That eventually
evolved into sending text messages and answering Snapchats while on
the road. I always felt uncomfortable by her lack of attention while
driving, but I was too afraid to say anything to her. However, my
lack of confidence to speak up against irresponsible driving quickly
waivered after my best friend took her poor driving a step too far.
It was the first week of summer after our Sophomore year of high
school. My best friend asked if I would be interested in joining her
for a day at the beach to kick off our vacation. It was a beautiful,
hot day, so I quickly agreed. The trip started with her typical
selfie taking on Snapchat. I pretended not to notice because all of
the windows were down, the music was blaring, and I was ready to kick
off my summer vacation. We merged on to the highway, and the
increased wind whipped at our hair.
My best friend decided that her hair was bothersome, and made the
scariest driving decision I have ever been involved in. She ordered
that I take the wheel. With no other explanations, she flipped her
head upside down and began pulling her hair back into a ponytail. My
anxiety of being her passenger skyrocketed as I was suddenly
responsible for our safety and the safety of those around us. We were
swerving an alarming amount especially considering we were flying
down the highway. She told me to relax or else I was going to make us
crash. That statement was upsetting to me, as she was the one who had
sprung the situation on to me, a person who had no driving
experience. I finally found the courage to tell her that what she
was doing was unsafe, and that she was the driver and should act more
responsibly while operating a vehicle. She scoffed and told me that I
was being uptight, but she also stopped partaking in dangerous
actions while I was in the car with her.
People, especially teens should have no fear about confronting
irresponsible drivers for their actions. There are too many stories
of avoidable car accidents filling the news. Dangerous driving should
be talked about more. Cars are essentially weapons if driven
improperly, and operating a vehicle is a privilege. Drivers should be
held accountable for their responsibility by all, including
passengers.
