Driving down the highway, my car is stuck in traffic, packed behind a million other cars. We slowly inch up, again and again until we can see the bright red fire truck, its sirens still on, blocking off two lanes, and cars only able to go by one by one, like ants marching in a line. As we drive by, I can see a metal barrier gnarled and mangled with a car sticking out of it. The car is bent out of shape, bruised and dented with its airbags deployed and overfilling from the sides; it hardly even seems like a car anymore, just a distorted piece of metal. We drive past, just trying to get out of the traffic jam and on our way, and try not to think about what we just saw, the horrible death that was caused by cars and lack of safe driving. On a 3 hour drive from Maryland to New Jersey I experienced this awful tragedy at least 5 times.This is all too common, and it needs to stop. People should not be losing their lives senselessly in these ways, whether because of themselves or because of another driver, and we all should be practicing defensive driving.

My first time getting in a car, when I was first learning how to drive—before I even knew where the turning signals were, or how to shift gears in the car–the things my dad repeated again and again to me were the dangers of driving and how I had to practice defensive driving. Every time someone would beep at me, or we passed a car accident, or even when there were just a lot of cars on the road, he would say to me: “be mindful of what is around you, and drive defensively. Always be in control of the car, and never let your emotions get the better of you.” I always use this as a motto when driving when I am stressed and nervous– or even when I am not, and I am just calmly driving down a random street, I say it again and again in my head, making sure it sticks.

My parents have been the best role models for me in defensive driving, because while they have been in several dangerous situations, they always have been able to avoid potential hazards: cars coming out of nowhere, cars cutting them off, cars going way above the speed limit, debris in the road, or overly aggressive drivers who honk their horns way too long and speed past. The best example I have, and one I look at all the time when I am not totally comfortable in a driving situation, was when I was on the highway with my dad; he was driving and talking to me about something not that memorable, and from out of the blue came a motorcycle racing past. Its driver wore a midnight black helmet that completely encircled their face, and the bike was the same color of his helmet but with bright slivers of silver. It was going at least a hundred miles an hour, and weaving in between cars going at least seventy. My dad saw him, stayed in his lane, and used defensive driving tactics to remain safe. But then another one came, same helmet, same style bike, and same speed. My dad deftly handled this one too. Yet another one came, then another. At least 10 motorcycles raced past us, each going an unacceptable speed, and each weaving dangerously between the cars. But my dad was able to handle all of them. I could see that he was a little rattled, but he kept his hands at ten and two, kept glancing in his mirrors, and made sure to drive at a steady speed in a straight line. This is one of the most memorable experiences of defensive driving because it was such a dangerous situation, but my dad made sure to stay safe, stay in control, and stay alert, and was able to get us out of it.

While there are several more major causes of car crashes, such as drunken driving, in most of those situations you can’t control what the driver of the other car is doing, but by using defensive driving you can protect yourself from those deadly drivers and avoid the danger. Defensive driving is the best way to protect yourself when driving a car, a situation where you have little control over the actions of others, but you can have control over yourself.