I never understood the importance and power you have as a driver until I became one. People do not think about the consequences and impact you can have as a driver. You can change not only your future, but the future of everyone around you by one small accident. I learned this in many different ways once I became a driver. As a 15-16 year old, it is only on occasion that kids take driver education seriously. In my case, I sadly had to learn a lot of hard lessons because I was one of those kids.
Driver education is extremely important as there is becoming an increasing rate of crashes per year. As a 16 year old, getting my license, I was just excited to get the keys of my car not thinking anything about the safety of actually being able to drive. I went through drivers ed and passed my temps and drivers test. That did not mean I knew or even paid that close attention to the education it was providing me. Looking back I really wish I did and it would have saved me a lot of money and trauma. I think that being aware of real-world situations people have experienced and hearing them first hand gives a different perspective and awareness that can be more impactful. You never think that you will be the person getting in a crash until it is you.
There are a few steps that should be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. One, you should always put down your phone while driving and limit the distractions. Two, if there is something that is constantly distracting you while driving you should pull over and fix it. Three, always be on the lookout for moving or stopping traffic. A lot of crashes occur due to movement of traffic and if you are not paying attention to it you will probably end up in a crash. Four, never drive under the influence. A lot of crashes are caused because of people thinking they can drive under the influence when in reality it puts you and everyone on the road at the same time at a much higher risk. There are many other factors people should consider while driving, but these are some of the main ones.
Dealing with a death first hand because of a car accident is not an easy experience. When I was around 10 years old, I remember my mom crying in the kitchen. I asked her what was wrong and she said we were going to have to drive to Kentucky for a funeral. I was pretty young not really understanding what was happening. The next day my whole family got in the car and drove down no questions asked. My mom explained to me that Matthew died (her cousin) because he was in a drunk driving accident. I was shocked and saddened for my mom who was very close with him as a kid. At the funeral, everyone was very distraught due to this being such an unexpected death in the family. It was sad to see everyone like this and to think that his parents were not supposed to be the ones to see this funeral. I always hoped to think that if Matthew who caused so much pain in others, due to his unexpected death, could’ve seen the pain he caused, he wouldn't have chosen to drink and drive.
I not only had a family die of a car accident, I also got into a car accident. I was driving very irresponsible and that is what got me into this situation. I was on the way to school one day and I was running very late. I had my brother in the car and instead of paying attention to the road, I was texting and driving. There was a lot of traffic that day and the flow of traffic stopped. Since I was texting, I was not paying attention and ran into the car right in front of me. I put my brother and the family in the car, in danger. I never thought I would be the one getting into a texting and driving accident, until it happened to me. I realized at that moment nothing on my phone was more important than someone's life that day. It is hard to think about life lessons before them happening to you. Sadly, this was the way I had to learn. I was truly one of the lucky ones since no one got severely hurt. I could not imagine my life if I ended up killing my brother or the family in the car.
The statistics of roughly 34,000 deaths per year due to motor vehicles is not right. Driving is so dangerous because of people like me, who have been careless and not thought about the people around them. I hope one day we can reduce this number and take action for the families who do not deserve to lose a loved one from careless people or accidents that should not have happened. I will continue to help prevent accidents by speaking up about mine. I think the more I can tell people around me about my accident, they will learn what not to do from my experiences. I can also do my part when I am in the car with someone and always make sure they are being a responsible driver. If someone is not I can call them out in a respectful way, so they know that driving is a serious thing. Being a responsible driver is something that can be hard at times, but in the end it can save so many lives and heartache. It is important to remember the world is much bigger than a text or drink.