Jillian
Labador
31
March 2020

While
driving to my college class last summer, I nearly experienced a side
collision that definitely could have erased my luck in not having had
a broken bone before. From my window, I saw the mere inches between
my car and theirs, inches that made the difference between life or
death. 

As
teenagers, we begin gaining control not only on our lives but on the
lives of others with just a steering wheel, brake pedal, and
accelerator. Promoting drivers ed and shifting our driving
culture can help prevent future near-accidents like mine, and worse,
vehicle-related fatalities.

Driver
education discourages reckless driving, especially to young drivers
who may not have the capacity to foresee fatal consequences or who
may want to take the risk to uplift their image. Underlining to young
drivers that operating a motor vehicle on the streets is not only a
privilege but a major responsibility will help establish the right
attitude of practicing safety on the roads. Furthermore, driver
education teaches useful and critical maneuvers to new drivers that
will aid them in getting out of difficult situations, such as
correcting a skid or stopping a hydroplane. This knowledge could
potentially save a driver’s life and the lives of other drivers.
Considering inexperience is one of the leading causes of teen
accidents, having teenagers drive at night, in poor weather, and/or
on busy streets with an adult, especially a driving instructor, can
aid them in sharpening their judgment ability on the road which is
critical to avoid getting into an accident. 

To
further reduce the number of road casualties, promoting driver safety
awareness to the public can help transform our culture’s attitude
towards driving. While enforcing more traffic policies, speed bumps,
or patrol officers could help, a simple yet not-so-easy solution is
to transform our driving culture. Seeing my friends on social media
induce and share videos of careless driving behavior for social
“clout” alarms me, and seeing my parents check their Facebook
feed while driving adds to my frustration. We need to advocate for
driver safety awareness and normalize driving the speed limit,
wearing a seat belt, putting away our phones while driving, etc.
Oftentimes, I drive by billboards that advertise “no texting while
driving” and hear this message repeatedly on the radio station.
This has added to the gravity of the issue; however, not everyone is
as affected by these public announcements, so we must muster the
courage to let our loved ones and friends know that reckless driving
of any kind is unacceptable. 

While
I promote driver safety, I admit that I am not always a careful
driver. There are times when I speed across the street to get to
school on time. In an effort to not rush to school, I will try waking
up earlier to leave the house in advance. Although I value sleep,
speeding to get to school is not worth the cost of a life, especially
when determined by mere inches.