Name: Madison Marie Marsee
From: Clinton , Tennessee
Votes: 0
Choose
Not to be a Statistic
You
have been learning the road signs, following family member’s
advice, and anxiously preparing for the day you take your drivers
exam. What many teenagers are probably looking forward to is: late
night drives around town, going out with friends whenever you would
like, and how to handle this newfound freedom; this all comes with
tremendous responsibilities. What many teens are not thinking about
is how their actions can and will come with grave consequences, and
can even cost them or others their lives. Every time you answer a
phone call, change the radio station, or send a text back, you are
breaking your focus from the road and endangering the lives of those
around you, as well as your own.
Teaching
young drivers the importance of staying distraction free can and will
greatly decrease the number of deaths on the road each year. In
America, an average of thirty-four thousand people die each year due
to highway-related accidents. I have no doubt that if proper driving
education was enforced, the number of fatalities would be cut in
half. A solution to the epidemic is to enforce driving education
courses in high schools across the United States. These courses need
to be made a requirement in order to graduate with a high school
diploma. This would ensure that all drivers would have at one time
been properly educated on the risks involved with distracted driving,
and ways to prevent it.
Unfortunately,
I have lost a family member due to distracted driving. People never
think that it can happen to you or someone you love until it does.
All it takes is answering one phone call, responding to one text, or
choosing to drive under the influence for you or a loved one’s life
to become part of the statistic. My uncle made the foolish decision
to drive while under the influence of alcohol, and the consequence
was his life. Fortanulately, he did not harm anyone else in the wake
of his actions, but the pain inflicted upon our family was life
changing. His parents, my grandparents, had to go through the
excruciating pain of outliving their child and laying him to rest.
This tragic outcome could have been prevented if he had chosen to not
drive distracted.
Experiencing
losing my uncle due to distracted driving has made me an advocate for
not driving while under the influence. I preach to my peers the
importance of not using alcohol and especially not driving if they
choose to. I have worked with my high school’s Gear Up coordinator
to have signs posted around my high school campus reminding students
to buckle up and not drive distracted. There was also a banner that
was made stating the regulations for people of different ages with
their license, explaining driving curfew and maximum number of
passengers in a vehicle.
Distracted
driving is a risk that comes with deadly consequences, choose not to
become a statistic.
