Name: Heather Lea Miller
From: Round Rock, Texas
Votes: 0
It is hard
to imagine an instance when someone’s life flashes before their
eyes. However, one mistake while driving could, ultimately, lead to
that exact moment.
My mom has
a sister, but that one night where the other car wasn’t paying
attention and ran into them head on and her sister, sitting in the
middle, slammed her head into the dashboard changed that “has” to
a “had”. I personally never got to meet her. She was 16 at the
time of her death, and every year that her birthday rolls around, it
never gets easier for my mom and grandmother to remember why she is
no longer here. That night would never have that ending if people
continuously stayed attentive while they drove. Nonetheless,
it’s difficult for people to understand the importance of safe
driving when they don’t have someone that has been personally
impacted by a fatal car wreck. That is why as a nation, we need to
recognize the importance of educating people about safe driving and
the impact it has when safe driving is not a priority.
Many
options exist to prevent a sad occurrence, people can put their
phones in the center console, have a passenger in the car keep their
phone so they won’t be tempted to grab it, and maintaining a three
second distance from the cars in front of them to avoid rear ending.
Other preventive measures include more emphasis by instruction, when
kids are going through drivers ed it is extremely important
for the instructor to emphasize the seriousness of cautious driving.
If the consequences are not talked about when discussing driving, the
students will not fully understand the significance of careful
driving. New drivers need to learn the impact distracted driving has
on their safety. With the exhilaration and freedom to drive wherever
they want with or without friends, it is noticeably easy to get
preoccupied with something else while driving (like music, talking to
friends, and admiring the view). When upcoming drivers don’t get
this education they could be at high risk of a wreck with just one
mistake that they didn’t know could harm them in the long run. As a
driver who has been guilty of distracted and sloppy driving I can
vouch that my goal as I continue to drive is to keep my phone in the
center console to decrease the possibility of grabbing my phone.
Also, when I am with someone else I will be more aware to keep them
responsible for not getting on their phone while I am in the car with
them and I will make a cautious choice to not be the cause of their
distracted driving. If more people take an initiative to not drive
hastily on the roads and decrease the one mistake that could result
in terrible ends, the roads would be a much safer place.
