Name: Anna Patricia Mefford
From: Havertown, PA
Votes: 0
As
a young driver, getting your license is everything, it feels like a
rite of passage. Some grow and mature with the newfound
responsibilities of driving, carefully following the rules and
guidelines set forth in the drivers ed they have received
and using their common sense. Others who pay little mind to education
or who have not received any, get behind the wheel of a lethal
weapon. For everyone it needs to be a step-in life that is carefully
addressed, practiced and educated on before getting behind the wheel
and taking
responsibility
for your life and others in your hands.
One
of the first things every kid wants to do when they get their
licenses is show their friends. They want to show off and let
everyone know that they are able to drive a vehicle by themselves and
go wherever they wish. With this comes a lot of responsibility and
dangers. The many laws against novice drivers help to keep them safe
but there are many easy ways to get around these laws, and many kids
do avoid them. For example, young drivers are only able to have a
certain number of passengers and drive at certain times, these laws
would be extremely helpful, if young drivers were to follow them. By
cracking down on kids violating these laws, this would help save the
lives of many new drivers that want to pack as many friends in their
cars as they can or think they can pick up anyone at any time of the
night. The lives of these friends are now in your hands, you control
if they live or die.
As
I talked about before, many new drivers want to impress and show off.
They now have this ability that many other kids do not have and all
they want to do is let everyone know. One way that many kids express
this is through speeding. According to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, in 2016 there were 10,111 fatalities due to
speeding and this number has increased 4% since then. This large
number of deaths is just from speeding alone. Imagine if no one in
the world sped, that would be 10,111 lives spared that could be on
this earth right now. These deaths could be avoided very easily if
people realized that the speed limit is NOT a suggestion and it IS
the law.
With
the number of experienced drivers on the road, there are also new
drivers roaming around. Experienced drivers that were not taught or
do not listen to the rules, are just as bad as new eager drivers.
Since they have been driving for a long period of their life, they
think the rules do not apply to them, but in fact they do! If you are
getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, you should know the dangers,
rules, and common sense to operating a vehicle. This needs to be
taught at a young age, even before the young driver gets behind the
wheel for the first time. It needs to be ingrained in the minds of
the youth, so they are able to stay safe on the roads. Novice drivers
starting out with confidence and the knowledge they need to succeed
behind the wheel will not only benefit them but will set an example
for their kids and the other new drivers they will come in contact
with.
To
wrap things up, driving is not a right, it is a privilege and it must
be treated carefully, or it can be taken away from you very quickly.
Allowing the youth to get behind the wheel is now a responsibility on
the driver’s parents to make sure they are equipped with the right
tools they need to have the best awareness on the road. And when you
choose to put yourself behind the wheel, know that your life and the
lives of whoever else is in the vehicle or on the road, are in your
hands. If you can make yourself a safe driver, others will catch on
and safe, confident driving will be the new thing to impress your
friends with.
