Name: Mary Kathryn Worth
From: Lindsay, TX
Votes: 0
Others’
Lives Are In Your Hands
As
an eager 15 year old, you are finishing the final lessons of your
online drivers ed program. Without even noticing you begin to
get on your phone and text your friend. In those few minutes that you
were distracted, you missed information that was essential for safe
driving. In today’s society, with drivers ed being mostly
online, teenagers seem to pay less attention or completely ignore the
material being taught in the programs. Drivers ed programs
play a very important role in teaching how to drive smart, safe, and
efficiently. Taking drivers ed programs seriously by reading,
listening, and asking questions could be the difference in a life or
death situation behind the wheel. Informed people show a greater
chance of following the rules; and in turn, possibly help lower the
number of deaths from driving related accidents. One thing that can
begin to be enforced is to make teenagers take their drivers
education course in-person with an instructor rather than online.
This would allow the instructor to make sure the teenager is learning
all the necessary material to know how to drive the right way in
order to help decrease the number of driving related deaths.
Just
a couple years ago I was a freshman in high school. This was a big
year in my books, I got my drivers license. As a young 16 year old,
getting your driver’s license feels like a ticket to freedom; you
feel invincible. You’re constantly being reminded about everything
that could go wrong; wear your seatbelt, don’t text and drive,
don’t drink and drive. Of course, as an ignorant teenager you think
nothing will happen to you. If that’s the case, you’re wrong. One
Saturday morning I was informed that one of my friends had gotten in
a really bad car accident the night before and was in route to the
hospital. I was in shock, but then started thinking, he will be fine,
it’s just a wreck. That was not the case. Little did I know this
boy had been out drinking with his buddies and realized he was late
for curfew, so he got in his car and started speeding down a country
road trying to get home as fast as possible. He swerved just a tad,
and when he tried to correct himself, he pulled the wheel too hard
and was flying into the other lane and then into a field. He flipped
multiple times, and eventually thrown out of his car. He laid there
for hours until he was found, and at that point it was too late.
Losing a friend in a car accident really opens your eyes.
In
order to become a better, safer driver we need to pay attention to
our drivers ed course, and make sure we apply what we learn to
drive on the road. You can help others by explaining the consequences
of irresponsible driving and prompting them to always drive safe and
smart.
