As people turn sixteen; they are excited to get their driver's license as it is a major example of freedom and independence from their parents; we don’t have to rely on our parents to take us places. However, with getting your driving license; you need to be a good, cautious driver who is always alert and aware of what is going on around you on the road. A good friend has told me that everyone on the road “knows” how to drive, but not everyone is a great driver and that you should always expect other people on the road to drive poorly.
I believe that all drivers should take lessons from a professional driving instructor, so that they are better drivers on the road. A driving instructor will teach you the basics of driving; for example, how to steer correctly, braking and keeping your car under control. In addition a driving instructor will teach you how to drive defensively, so you could avoid accidents. As more people take lessons from a driving instructor, less people will be hurt or killed from a driving accident.
I believe that there should be more steps taken to reduce driving deaths and accidents; for example, there should be more DUI checkpoints, so there is an incentive for people not to drink and drive. If anyone gets pulled over, the first thing the officer should do is check if the person is wearing their seatbelt, if they are caught not wearing their seatbelt; then they should be given a ticket. Wearing your seatbelt is easy and it makes sure that you don’t go flying out the windshield if you were to get into an accident. In addition; I think that the roads need to be paved more often and the lines on the road are painted more often and clearly, so that it is easier for people to stay in their lane.
I believe that I am a safe driver,but I could definitely do better because I feel like I accidentally speed all the time; sometimes I look down at my dash and realize that I am going ten or fifteen over the speed limit. To fix my accidental speeding; I could pay better attention to the speed limit signs; also, when the road conditions become bad I could slow down more, so I don’t hydroplane and crash my car. I also feel like I could be better with my turn signals, I feel like I end up putting my turn signals on when it is too late and I could confuse other drivers. I know I definitely should not be doing this, but I have done it plenty of times; eating behind the wheel. Eating behind the wheel is dumb and I should just wait till I am parked to eat. If I ever get into an accident as a result of eating, there is nobody to blame, but myself because it is dumb. I also feel like I give other drivers too much credit because I have been in many situations where other people are dumb and don’t follow the rules of the road. For example, the other night I was making a left turn and some moron decided to make a left turn from the right turning lane and almost side swiped my car.
People who drive unsafely scare me and I can’t completely trust another person behind the wheel because I have been in plenty of cars with my friends where they do stupid things in their cars. The other night I was in my friend's car and he was going 100 miles per hour on the freeway at night because he thought it was funny; however, I did not feel safe, as I could see he did not look confident and I felt like he was going to lose control of the car. As I am writing this I think more of the situations I have been in with my friends driving and wow they are very unsafe and stupid drivers. A few years ago when my best friend got his license, he thought it was a wonderful idea to go 90 miles per hour down a hill and we got air time. I am genuinely surprised that we did nor crash and that was easily my scariest experience in the car at the fault of someone else. Finally, I have been a victim of a hit and run as a result of someone not paying attention to the road. When I was about fourteen years old, someone ran a red light as I was crossing through an intersection on a bike and hit me from the side. Thankfully; I am okay and was only hurt for a couple days. Long story short the person drove away, but they were caught on a red light camera and got arrested for a hit and run.