Name: Brooke Noble
From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota
Votes: 0
Brooke Noble, St. Cloud, Minnesota
Safe Driving in Today’s Busy
World
According
to the National Safety Council, half of all teens will be involved in
a car crash before graduating from high school (www.nsc.org)
This statistic shocked and frightened me and has caused me to deeply
reflect on safety and what we can do to prevent accidents not only
for ourselves but for our friends and family.
The
NSC also states that, contrary to popular belief, teens crash because
they are Inexperienced drivers. Due to inexperience, judging gaps is
more difficult, turning safely and driving the right speed for the
conditions are more difficult for teenage drivers. We, as teen
drivers, can gain more experience by spending more time with our
parents driving as our biggest influencer, paying attending in
drivers ed class and being active and vocal in our
community when topics and opportunities arise to speak up to
encourage safe driving laws, policies and community involvement.
The
“5 to Drive” from the NHTSA are:
-
No cell phones while driving
-
No extra passengers
-
No speeding
-
No alcohol
-
No driving or riding without a
seat belt
I have created an action plan
around each of these rules that I can implement in my daily life and
will share with others either in conversation, in class or other
communication channels such as social media. The hands-free law has
emphasized no cell phones will driving. However, because it’s
relatively new, I have seen first-hand people still holding their
phones will driving. I have a sleeve from the Students Against
Destructive Decisions club that I am a member of at school so that we
can put our phones away while driving. When we volunteer as a SADD
club, we hand out these sleeves so that others are reminded to put
away their cell phones, too.
Being a member of SADD has also
reinforced no drinking underage or especially while driving, and if
one of my friends does decide to drink, I have volunteered to be a
friend they can call any time of night for a ride safely home. I have
had multiple friends call me for rides after parties to take them
home and it makes me proud to provide this invitation to my friends
that I’m here for them.
I
live in St. Cloud, Minnesota where the driving due to winter weather
conditions can be extremely dangerous. Black ice, blizzard conditions
and low visibility create a havoc on roads for drivers especially
when they are inexperienced, distracted or speeding. I can prevent
crashes by giving enough distance between myself and other cars,
leaving early enough to drive slowly to my destination and keeping a
car safety kit within my car in the event of an emergency. I have
experienced a crash while I was driving with a deer that jumped out
in the middle of the road and hit the side of my car. I learned from
this experience to drive slow enough to react to anything that comes
my way.
