Arrive Alive

Growing up in today’s times, teenagers and young adults are constantly reminded about the dangers of driving under influences through their classes, driving courses, and reminders from caring family members and friends. While these lessons may seem to be a monotonous aspect of public education, we seldom realize how important it is to be knowledgeable of the risks and dangers of driving under the influence, whether that be the influence of drugs, alcohol, or the influence of our own mobile devices. Discussing these distractions and stressing the importance of avoiding them is key during drivers ed. The more students are reminded of how their actions affect others and how their actions could cause catastrophic events to occur if they are not careful drive home the point that students need to be aware of what they are doing at all times every time they get into the vehicle. The more informed they are, the less likely they will be naïve to the dangers associated with distracted driving and the more likely they will be to take precautions in order to avoid these dangers. As a high school student, I had my fair share of exposure to what happens when drivers are distracted and not paying attention due to a present stimulus that is taking their attention away from driving. As a junior in high school, I was involved in two car accidents and one bus accident (none of which where I was the driver) that left me having to have months of chiropractic sessions and doctor’s visits to reverse the damage to my spine that the accidents caused. The first accident was caused by a driver who was under the influence of alcohol who ran into our car in the middle of Atlanta in the rain. The second accident was caused by a driver who was on her mobile device and it resulted in a three-way car accident. The bus accident was caused under the same exact conditions. Each accident had one thing in common. Because another driver was not exclusively paying attention to driving on the road due to a noxious stimulus, accidents were caused that had long-lasting effects on every person involved. Driver educators and guardians of pupils play a large role in educating their students about the general rules of driving as well as the dangers of driving. While it remains to be a touchy and difficult subject, students need to know of all the situations that could arise while one drives. While we all wish and expect things to go right all the time, we need to be ready to react to situations that may arise. Raising awareness and implementing lessons that could elongate the length of the driving course are key in reducing the amount of deaths that occur. I can do my part by paying attention not only to what I am doing, but to what others are doing around me in order to monitor the safety of those on the road.