Driver Education Initiative – A Car is a Weapon, Handle it Like One

Alyssa Spivak

Safe
Driving Essay

September
30, 2019

A
Car is a Weapon, Handle it Like One

My
dad always told me a car is a weapon, but I never understood, until I
got my drivers license. I understand what he is saying now because I
am witnessing it firsthand. I see car accident after car accident on
the road, I have heard of children my age dying or even younger, and
I have known people who have died or gotten injured in car accidents
personally. We need to bring awareness to this problem, or it will
never get fixed. Cars can harm, cars can kill, and we need to
remember that on the road.

Would
you look down at your phone while shooting a gun? No, you probably
wouldn’t, so why do we do it when we drive? If you shoot a gun
while looking at your phone, it may miss your target and harm or kill
somebody else. Well this is the same situation with texting and
driving. If you are looking down at your phone while driving you may
swerve and hit a car in another lane, you may not realize that car in
front of you stopped and end up hitting them from behind, you may not
see somebody crossing the street or riding a bike and hit them, or
many other obstacles drivers face today. There have been so many new
laws with consequences for texting and driving yet this hasn’t
stopped people from looking at their phones. You can go to jail for
manslaughter if you kill somebody because of texting and driving, so
is it really worth it? A text is never more important than your life
or somebody else’s. If it can’t wait, pull over to a safe spot
where there is enough room and answer it.

Drinking
and driving. That seems to be all we hear when talking about car
accidents these days, but that doesn’t stop it from happening.
People are killed because of drunk drivers every year, yet nobody
seems to care. You can get a fine for drunk driving, get arrested, or
even go to jail. There are so many ways to avoid having to drive
while intoxicated. You can have a designated driver, call a friend or
family member to pick you up or call an Uber. People, especially
teenagers, do not like to call their parents to pick them up when
they have had alcohol, usually in fear of getting in trouble, but
believe me, your family would much rather have you alive and without
a criminal record. If you care about yourself, your loved ones, and
any of the innocent people around you, do not drive under the
influence.

Are
you running late, have somewhere important to be, or are just an
impatient person? Speeding will not help you, under any
circumstances. There are so many consequences to speeding. You can
get pulled over and get a ticket, you loose control of your car
easier, or you may not be able to stop fast enough for an animal or
person in the road. You will probably not make it to where you need
to go much faster and can harm yourself or others, is it worth it?

Wear
your seat belt! It doesn’t matter if it is the law or not, you
should always wear your seatbelt. 27% of Fatal car crashes in 2017
were from unrestrained passengers. Even if the law says you don’t
have to wear a seatbelt over a certain age, or that you don’t have
to wear a seatbelt in the backseat you should always wear one. If you
are driving and somebody makes up an excuse to try and get out of
wearing a seatbelt, do not move the car until they put one on. It
doesn’t matter if somebody says it itches their neck, it always
locks, or any other excuses, seatbelts are proven to save lives. It
can save you from being ejected from the car or being thrown across
the car. Seatbelts save lives, make sure you wear one.

Children’s
car seats save innocent lives of children every day. There are
different types of car seats for children of all ages and sizes.
Children must be in the correct car seat for their age and size for
it to work properly. Car seats also need to be strapped into the car
correctly so that if an accident occurs, the seat stays secure and
does not move around the car. We must protect our children as long as
we can and teach them safety in driving.

Although
easily preventable, car accidents happen all the time, fatal or not,
because people won’t follow laws to keep each other safe. Anything
that can impair your driving, like alcohol, speeding or texting can
be fatal to you are or others. Something as silly as wearing a
seatbelt can prevent death and we need to realize this. We risk our
lives every time we get on the road and we need to be more aware of
this. As my dad once said, a car is a weapon, so treat it like one.