Be careful, Vehicles Are Weapons Too

An average of nine teenagers are killed every day from car accidents and 80% of those teens were the passengers! As a teenage girl who just got her license, I am constantly making sure I am driving responsibly. However, many teenagers tend to get too comfortable behind the wheel. This causes bad habits to form such as, not stopping at a stop sign, and those bad habits could eventually end up fatal.

As we all know, you must pass drivers ed before getting your license because they play a big role in educating arrogant teens. During my drivers ed experience, my teacher showed us this graphic video about a deadly, horrific car accident. I still think about it to this day and I can strongly agree that it has helped me become and stay a cautious driver. It is extremely important for drivers ed teachers to be real with their students and show them how serious you must be when driving. Teaching them will put them in the mindset that a vehicle is a weapon that can easily hurt someone, therefore, they will be safer drivers.

There are plenty of steps that parents and teenagers can take in order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Since texting and driving are a big reason why accidents happen, it would make sense for your phone to lock while driving over 25 miles per hour. The Apple company already has a setting where you can block received text messages until you are done driving. My neighbor got into a terrible accident just as they were making a left turn onto a main street. After looking both ways, they started to make a left turn and failed to see the speeding car coming towards them. Their whole car got flipped to the side and there were broken car parts everywhere. My neighbors two children, ages 8 and 13, were also in the car and luckily no one got hurt.

After learning and experiencing what happens while carelessly driving really made me realize what type of driver I need to be. Once I get in my car, I turn my phone on silent and keep it well out of my reach so I am not tempted to look at it. Another habit I am guilty of is constantly talking while my friends are driving. For example, if I notice they are not stopping while getting closer to a car I tell them to stop abruptly. I try not to criticize my friend drivers, however I am constantly watching as if I were driving.