Driver
Education Initiative Essay
Every
teenager dreams of the day they pass that test a get a tidbit of
freedom. Every teenager dreams of the day they finally get their
first car. Everyone dreams of being on the open road with no care in
the world. The only problem with that is that you have to care. You
have to care and pay attention to your surroundings as well as what
other drivers are doing. Pay attention to the people on the sidewalk.
Pay attention to everything. When they tell you about the joy of
driving, they don’t exactly tell you the dangers of it.
Driving
is the most dangerous activity to partake in America, and millions
are doing it as you are reading this. Now, you’re probably
thinking,” No it’s not.” Well, the facts prove you wrong. There
were 291,557 deaths in World War 2. 1.25 million people, on average,
die yearly due to car-related accidents. That’s 3,287 deaths per
day. World War 2 has the most fatalities in the war world, but even
that wasn’t as dangerous as cars, more specifically the people
behind the wheel, in civilian life.

Sometimes,
it’s not the person behind the wheel that causes the accident.
Sometimes, it can be the dealership where you bought the car. Nearly
four years ago, Tom Gill sold my mom a faulty car. They said it was
up-to-date with everything, but it wasn’t. The back-passenger wheel
detached from the SUV. The spring that was holding it together was
rusted and broken. The company refused to give her a service report
and failed to inform my mom of it.

There
are many ways you can reduce the chances of being in or causing a car
accident. One way is pretty obvious: don’t drink and drive.
Drinking and driving is one of the leading causes of car-related
deaths. 10,497 people died in alcohol-related driving incidents.
There were 1,233 traffic deaths among children between the ages of 0
to 14, 17% (214) of them involved alcohol. Drive sober. Drive smart.

Another
way to reduce the chance of being in or causing a car accident is not
being distracted. It may sound simple enough, and sometimes it is,
but sometimes it’s not. Not being distracted includes you’re eyes
consistently on the road at all times. It also means no phones. Being
on your phone while you are in motion behind a wheel is distracted
driving, and. Very dangerous. In 2018, 4,637 people died in accidents
caused by cell phone use behind the wheel. These crashes caused $129
billion dollars (15%) of societal damage caused by motor vehicles.
Drive undistracted. Drive smart not smartphone.
Every
new driver ignores the speed limits. Even experienced drivers of
20-30 years ignore the speed limit. Speed limits exist for a reason,
and it’s so people don’t crash. 9,378 people were killed in 2018
due to speeding. 32% of those deaths happen between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.
with most of the happening after dark. Drive slowly. Drive smart.

Cars cause more deaths than war. Cars
are the number 1 killer in America. Drive safe. Drive sober. Drive
smart not smartphone. Drive slowly. Drive undistracted. Drive
careful.