Name: Zipporah Sewell
From: Moon Township, PA
Votes: 0
As
a young teenage girl the one thing on my mind all the time was
getting my license. I feel that it is a tipping point in every
teenager’s life when they can finally be free on their own on the
road and go wherever they want. For me, it was the same way until I
attended driving school I did not know much about the rules of the
road except for the stuff that comes off as common sense. Things like
a stop at a stop sign yield for pedestrians those kinds of things,
but over the course of the two-week class I realized that driving is
so much more than that and the risks behind being in control of a car
are out of this world. People that allow their kids to drive alone
without having attended driving school do not know the amount of
Americans they are putting in danger. Before driving school, you kind
of live in this fantasy world and can only think about having
freedom, but with such freedom comes greater responsibilities. An
accident can happen in two seconds and before you know it someone is
seriously injured or worse dead because you do not really know the
rules of the road. Drivers ed is put in place to protect us
from ourselves essentially, it is very important because it allows
people to see driving and controlling a car from all aspects and
perspectives, not just the one of being behind the wheel. With
everyone attending these classes, the number of deaths from driving
will be greatly reduced.
Actions
still need to be taken in order to ensure that fewer people are dying
every year from car accidents. I think starting with the younger
drivers is a great start. By this, I mean to have something in
highschools some kind of class or club that talks about the risks of
driving and why it is very important they take it seriously. In the
state I live in, Maryland, once you attend your two-week session and
hold your permit for a certain amount of time you are legal to drive
once you passed the test. Me looking at this on a broader scale I
think that it is not the safest idea to have someone 17, a senior in
highschool riding on the road freely without an adult present. But
teenagers are not the only ones who get into accidents, we also need
to crack down on the number of elderly people we allow to still hold
a license. Every couple of years or so you have to get your license
renewed or pass some sort of eye test but is that really enough? I
know for a fact my grandfather still has his license yet he has had
eye surgery multiple times and has glaucoma. I say all this to say
that we need to be looking at medical records or consulting some kind
of doctor so we can see of the person should really be driving or
not. I think doing this will help cut down on the number of accidents
greatly as well.
I
myself have had an experience where I was in the car with someone
driving irresponsibly. We were in the car sitting at a red light and
she road right through it, when I looked at her in incredulity she
looked back like nothing was wrong then she realized what she had
done. The reason this happened was that she was looking at her cell
phone instead of paying attention to the road. If a car would have
been coming while we were going the accident would have been her
fault and who knows what would have happened. I could have been
seriously injured or the person that hit us could have gotten
seriously injured as well. I witness on a daily basis my friends
flying up and down the highway going 75 in a 55. With this, I think
it is a maturity thing, as a young adult we are always in a rush to
get somewhere that we never stop or slow down to appreciate and just
be present in the moment. This is something that comes with age and
or wisdom in my opinion.
In
order to be a better and safer driver as well as help others become
safer on the road, there are many steps that I could take. For
instance persuading my friends to really put their phones down and
focus on the road at all times, even at red lights. As for me, I can
be the example and the change that I want to see in those around me.
Which means no texting or talking on the phone while I am operating a
motor vehicle. Even though I am in college now I can still influence
those older than me by telling them my experiences and by going back
to my old highschool I can advocate for safe driving as well to all
of the 3,000 kids that attend. Driving safe is something that
definitely needs to be talked about more because remember, automobile
accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The change will
not come overnight but one step in the right direction from one
person can be revolutionary to all.
