Learning about driving and its consequences.

Tannersville, New York is a small town in the Catskills with one traffic light in the whole town. The population is 759 people. The local school has roughly 20 people a grade. Tannersville is the town I've grown up in and live in now, while not completely remote the nearest city with anything useful in Kingston which is about 45 minutes away. Living so far from something as simple as a Target or a Dicks Sporting Goods makes one truly appreciate their means of transportation. Now that me and most of my friends have our licenses we are constantly carpooling after practice. A whole day of school followed by an intense soccer practice can be exhausting and we have to make sure that we are alert and ready to drive, especially since we have to go so far from home. On the way down the mountain we live on there is a very windy road that can be dangerous to drive on its own. With a town like Tannersville that attracts a lot of tourists there are lots of people just walking on this road, they are difficult to see and one wrong move or one mistake from another driver can cause a devastating wreck. Last summer me and most of my friends took drivers ed, mostly for the benefits like being able to get our full license and to save a little bit of money on our insurance. However when we were in this class driving around and just having casual conversation our instructor would randomly stop and tell a very deep and mournful story. These stories were about crashes that took place in our local area, he would explain that they killed themselves in the accident or one of their good friends. What made these stories hit so hard is that he would explain how he knew the kids in the car, what kind of people they were, how kindhearted they were, and their plans for their future. Then right when we truly understood that these people were real and that they had lives just like the rest of us in the car, right when we realized that it wasn't just some story we could see on the news he'd say that they killed themselves and their friends in a crash 20 years ago. This really hit home with us. The fear and regret we would have for doing something like that just because of a simple glance at our phones really made us think. However no matter how much you pay attention and how much care you take with your driving another car not paying attention could crash into you and you have to suffer the consequences. Soon after driver's ed ended one of my friends was driving down the mountain road to go play some golf when a motorcyclist decided to pass the car coming towards my friend on a double yellow. This caused a major three-way crash involving my friend in which the motorcyclist damaged both cars badly and from what I've been told also lost the feeling in both of his legs. To this day you can still see the tire marks on the road where the accident occurred, as a reminder of how your own dangerous actions don't just affect you. I think that safe driving is something that should be promoted constantly. As I am growing older and gaining more experience on the road, while I have made my own mistakes I have learned that other drivers, just like me, are not perfect. Mistakes happen however there are ways to avoid as many as possible by being proactive. We must create a world where awareness for unsafe driving is spread not just constantly but also effectively. Nowadays we can go online and scroll to our hearts desire, we see deadly crashes, 10 car pile ups and are able to just scroll away as if it never happened. We must teach new drivers that deaths they see on TV aren't just something they can tune their desensitized heads out of but something that must be addressed.  Drivers have to understand that every time they get into a car they are risking more than just their own life. While they may be comfortable making risky decisions just to save time or just to check a notification on their phone they must consider the fact that there are innocent people on the road with them, whether its a teenager driving with their parents for the first time or a family of 4 on their way to a birthday party awareness on the road and driving safe should always be your first priority.