When I was six years old, my family and I were driving home from my horseback riding lessons. It was like any other day. My grandma was with us because she wanted to see me get horseback riding lessons, since she had horses when she was a little girl, too. I do not remember much, but I do remember I was having a good day because I made my grandma proud at my lesson. All of a sudden, I felt my body fall forward, only to be stopped by my seatbelt. Our car was rear-ended by the car behind us because the driver was distracted. He was presumably texting and driving. My mom was about seven months pregnant with my younger brother, and he would not stop kicking after the crash. I was crying. I had never been so terrified in my six years of life. I cannot imagine how terrified my mom was; the baby kicked and kicked. It was only reasonable for my mom to think something was wrong. She and my dad received a ride from the police to go to the hospital to make sure my brother was okay. A different police officer took my grandma and I home. It was the first and only time I had been in a police car. As a six year old, I did not have any concept of driving and car crashes, only that my mom was crying, something might be wrong with my brother, and what happened was serious enough to be driven home by a police officer. Everyone was fine in the end, just shaken up. This experience was my first with car crashes and reckless driving.

In the last six months, my friends have been in numerous crashes. One friend was t-boned by a distracted driver. The distracted driver was also presumably texting because she cut off a car who had the right of way. She swerved out of the way of that car, but hit my friend’s car instead. His mom, who is thankfully alright now, slammed her head against the window. The car itself was rotated a full 180 degrees. My friend says he remembers seeing the car coming at him from the corner of his left eye. He was smart because he accelerated quickly to get out of the way. Though the car was still hit, the quick acceleration may have saved his mom’s life. The car was completely undrivable afterwards. A different friend was in the same type of crash, but the car was not as damaged, but still had to be totaled. She was driving with two other friends in the car. Even though the other driver was completely at fault, she beat herself up for days. She kept thinking to herself, “What might have happened if the other car was moving at a faster speed?” Another friend hit a deer and was rear-ended in the same month. Additional friends have been in crashes; they were more than six months ago. Luckily, there has not been a crash that has seriously injured any one of my friends’ or their passengers, but next time may not be so lucky. While their crashes weren’t their fault and no one was harmed, driver’s education is still important.

With proper driver’s education and training, people know the right rules of the road. A lot of accidents come from people not understanding what to do in a certain driving scenario, or they forget because it has been a while since they took driver’s education. I think that everyone should take a driver’s education refresher course every five to ten years. Most importantly, people should stop texting and driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 400 deaths per year are caused from texting and driving. No text or call is worth your life or another person’s. Put the phone on silent and answer the text when you reach your destination. Additionally, people should make sure it is safe to go by checking both ways. Always assume you cannot make it, rather than you can make it. Another important rule to follow is the speed limit. It can be easy to drive over the speed limit, especially if you are running a few minutes behind. The speed limit is there for a reason. It is important to follow the driving rules, despite getting older and more comfortable with driving.

I can regularly read and understand the rules of the road in the state that I am living in, as well as rules in other states that I will be visiting. I can tell friends and family members to put away their phone while driving, if I see them trying to text and drive. Perhaps I could even send the text for them. Additionally, emotions impair our driving. For example, if we are mad, the adrenaline or anger may cause us to unintentionally drive faster and more recklessly. Before driving, we should try to calm down as much as possible. The less distracted we are the better. Most importantly, never drink and drive or let a friend drink and drive. According to NHTSA, Drunk driving causes more than 10,000 deaths every year. Thousands of deaths per year could be easily prevented. When we drive, we are not only putting our lives at risk, but other drivers’, too.