Name: Ashten Gentry
From: Frankfort, Illinois
Votes: 0
The night before my 16th birthday, my mother sat me down
and told me that while beginning to drive is an exciting thing, that
I needed to understand that if I drove irresponsibly, I could kill
someone. She explained that is I were to drive distracted for even a
moment, I could seriously harm a pedestrian, or myself. While I take
pride in the fact that I don’t drive distracted, on several
occasions, if it weren’t for sharp focus and defensive driving, I
very well could’ve been the victim of an accident. Driving is an
innate part of our society that is necessary, but it is not a right.
There are many
things that can be done to improve the overall dangerous conditions
that lead to the large number of deaths while driving. While laws are
strict regarding distracted driving and driving under the influence,
I believe that laws regarding seat belt use and distracted driving
could be enforced more heavily, or features in cars that would not
allow the car to start until seatbelts have been buckled, which do
already exist.
While I do
believe that my driving education was passable, I think that it’s
important to teach young drivers to be confident in their own
abilities, but to remain aware always. When I was learning to drive,
my teachers made me nervous to the point where I would dread being
behind the wheel, in turn making my driving poorer because I couldn’t
focus on anything except how nervous I was. By teaching young drivers
to be confident in their abilities, their driving skills will improve
overall. I also think that behind the wheel instruction needs to be
more involved, because facilitated driving will improve skills the
fastest and prepare young drivers for when they are on their own.
Luckily, I have
never been in an accident, but I have witnessed many accidents of my
family and friends, thankfully none of which were too serious. None
of them were the result of negligence from them, but rather of the
drivers around them, which is just as much of a danger as distracted
driving itself. Defensive driving is a very worthwhile skill to teach
young drivers, because it can reduce accidents for everyone.
I think I can
improve my own driving by making sure I am physically able to be one
hundred percent aware, such as making sure I am well rested and not
suffering from illness, because sleepy driving is nearly as deadly as
distracted driving, and with the need to commute getting earlier and
earlier, we are all at risk for being under the influence of
drowsiness, and we can all reduce the risk of an accident by making
sure we are well rested before getting behind the wheel.
