As a Senior in Highschool, I’ve seen many instances of reckless driving, and I’m almost surprised there aren’t more accidents in the parking lot. It’s not even just my peers, as some of the worst drivers are the parents. I’ve been cut off many times on the road because someone decided that they were better than the speed limit. In my opinion one of the worst things is when it’s a friend and you’re in the car. I had a friend drive me to homecoming once, and the first time I rode with her, she ran two stop signs and was driving 30 Miles per Hour in a residential area where the limit was 25. I was a little nervous to let her drive after that. Such recklessness, bad driving habits, and even refusal to formally learn may all be factors in a crash that kills or injures someone.

I haven’t personally been in an accident, but I have family that has. One thing that bothers me sometimes is when my friends don’t use a seatbelt, and a lot of them say it’s just because they aren’t used to it and forget. When I notice, I ask them to because I absolutely don’t tolerate that. My stepmom has told me that she’s been in many car accidents, but even though she was not at fault, she was badly injured. She has permanent pain in her neck and shoulders from hitting her steering column and going through the windshield, and it was because she didn’t wear her seatbelt. She’s told me that she can’t lift her arms above her head for more than a few seconds or else she starts to pass out, and by all means, she’s stated that she shouldn’t have survived some of them, especially the windshield one. I was already a bit of a stickler for the seatbelt rule, but that had cemented it. I don’t let people ride in my car unless they buckle the seatbelt, because if something happens, I don’t want my car or driving to be what takes my best friend or someone like them.

My sister’s fiance was also in an accident last year, and once again, it wasn’t even his fault. He and my sister have a black car, and he works nights, coming home in total darkness. One day he was on his way home and was T-boned by a group of teenage guys who had run a red light. He wasn’t permanently injured, but he hurt for a few weeks and the car was wrecked. He and my sister had both already been having some medical issues, and this was really stressful for them. Upon the police getting there, it turned out the reason he was hit was because the guys had been racing around and were being chased by a car of girls. The game was basically keep-away, and so they weren’t paying attention and ran a red light. Because the car was black and they weren’t looking too close, they didn’t see him. The recklessness, while thankfully not doing permanent damage this time, could’ve easily done worse if he was just a little more unlucky. While those guys were in trouble and the one more than likely lost his license, there is still the fact that, if they’d done worse, they would’ve had to live with it.

Before I got my license, I had done an online Drivers Ed course as well as my 50 hours of practice and my instructor driving. Now, I hear people say that they’re just going to wait until they are 18 so that they don’t have to take drivers education, and I think that isn’t a great idea. Drivers Ed, while annoying, allows a new driver to learn things that typically aren’t mentioned by parents or anything. Insight into how far ahead to look, some right-of-way details, laws for a state, and even a few vehicle safety topics are all covered in drivers ed. One thing drivers ed taught me beforehand was what to do when a vehicle loses traction. Not only did it tell me to pump the brakes rather than hold them, but it also explained why. Knowing how safety features of cars are meant to work not only lets a driver use them better, but it also gives the driver a better chance of knowing when something’s wrong.

There are a lot of people on the road, and the best way to drive is honestly just to assume that the person who looks like they’re about to do something stupid is about to do it, and that you need to have ways to avoid getting hurt because of it. While it sucks that this is the best way to not get hurt driving, it’s also important to take steps to be a good driver yourself. This advice was given to me through my father and addressed by drivers ed as well. Learning what to do, what not to do, and how to avoid other people are all important lessons to learn before just taking off.