Name: Daniel Koval
From: Delmar, Maryland
Votes: 0
A
Deadly Text
By
Daniel Koval
It
was a bright and sunny summer day with blue skies as far as the eyes
could see. My siblings and I raced to the car in our driveway while
our mom strolled behind us, laughing to herself. “Don’t hurt
yourselves, guys,” she said as we piled into the car. This was a
normal routine for our family as we headed off to our soccer
practice. What we didn’t know, however, was that our day would be
everything but normal very soon.
I
remember looking out the window and watching other cars pass by. I
heard a loud crash and was jolted in my seat; the next thing I knew,
our car had skidded off the road and into an electrical box.
Startled by the ordeal, I quickly looked out the window only to see
another car veered into the middle of the intersection. I heard my
mom yell, “Is everyone alright?!” as she frantically opened the
doors to check on us. Our car was totaled, I noticed, but that
didn’t matter to her; she only cared about the safety of her
children. Luckily, we walked away with only minor injuries.
Although
that day was about eight years ago, the images are still
crystal-clear in my mind. As I began driving as a student, those
memories act as a warning that anything can happen when driving.
When I learned about car crashes and safe driving in my driver’s
education class, I began to think: What if we hadn’t been okay that
day? What if we hadn’t been wearing seat belts? Would we have
been as lucky? I also think of the opposite: What if the other
driver hadn’t been texting, causing them to run that red light?
These thoughts make me realize just how important safety while
driving is and what can happen to others if precautions are not made.
An
influential way to promote safe driving is to simply educate new
drivers on the dangers of distracted driving. Too often, the
consequences of distracted driving are overlooked by teenagers. They
seem to think that it does not apply to them, or that they will be
able to manage driving while on their phones. Unfortunately, they
won’t understand that they are part of the problem until it’s too
late and someone is dead.
Teaching
students the dangers of distracted driving could dramatically reduce
the number of deaths caused by car collisions. If this generation is
able to grow up as a group of responsible drivers, then they would be
able to educate the next generation. Whenever I’m in the car with
my friends, I make sure that they are off their phone and that they
stay focused on the road; if they refuse to put their phone down, I
refuse to get in their car. Until people learn their
responsibilities, innocent drivers will only continue to become
victims of reckless ones. Through in-depth education regarding
distracted driving and its consequences, we can save the lives of
many.
