Dangers Behind the Wheel

Throughout
our lifetime, we will be told hundreds and thousands of times not to
“text and drive”, not to “drink and drive”, and to “always
wear a seatbelt”. During a drivers ed course, which is
mandatory to be completed before obtaining a Learner’s Permit,
there is an entire day dedicated to the dangers of distracted driving
and safety measures when operating a vehicle. However, the
precautionary tales seem to have minimal impact on dangerous driving.
Just recently, a cousin of mine had been consuming alcohol and
thought he was “sober” enough to drive his truck home. He wasn’t.
He was under the influence, driving recklessly, and not wearing a
seatbelt. As he turned out of his friend’s driveway, his truck slid
on black ice and sent him careening down a hill with zero traction.
He reached fifty miles per hour with complete lack of control, when
his wheels finally caught traction on the grass on the opposite side
of the road. The tires then flung the truck across the road into
three trees, and my cousin flew into the passenger side door,
breaking the door and the window. Had the truck hit the trees just
five inches closer to the hood, my cousin would have been killed on
impact from extreme force. Stories like these are not just told to
act as precautionary tales. These stories are a reality, and they are
experienced daily by people around the world. Just wearing a
seatbelt, staying sober, or using a designated driver can reduce the
number of driving-related deaths, because you can never be fully
prepared for the dangers that operating a vehicle can bring. So stay
sober, use caution, and handle every situation with care, because
together, we can drastically lower the statistics of deaths behind
the wheel.