My Uncle's Story

Denton 2

Roxy Denton

Drivers ed Initiative 2019

In the Driver’s Seat

My Uncle’s Story

During my sophomore summer, I was required to take drivers ed before I was allowed to get my license. I believe that driver’s education is important, because without it I would not be the safe driver that I am today. I believe that with drivers ed, the amount of car accidents could be prevented just with this class.

Like most teenagers, I have a cellphone. I know that many of my friends think it is okay to text or snapchat while they are driving. They say, “It’s okay I won’t crash, I have gotten good at this,” and that is a scary statement. I have been in the car when my friends go to change the music or send a text, and it is scary when we swerve or hear the humming of the lines in the middle of the road. There have been times where my friends have gone super fast on back roads “just for the fun of it.” To reduce the number of deaths related to driving, I feel that there should be more classes taken on driving safety for both beginner and adult drivers. When a person’s driver’s license expires every few years, they should be required to take a drivers ed class to be able to renew it.

When I was around three or four years old, I was on my way to my dad’s softball game. He played softball with his family: his mom, sister, dad, and brother. His younger brother, JR, was super late to the softball tournament that night. My dad decided to go and see where he was. I was in the car with my older sister, my dad, and my mom. We were driving looking to see if we could spot JR’s car when we saw a really bad car accident on the side of the road. The car was crushed and had rolled five times. My dad realized that it was his brother’s car. His brother was lying on the ground in a body bag. Charlie, JR’s girlfriend, was life-flighted to a hospital were she died later that night. They were ejected from the car, flying from their seats out of the windshield. They were not wearing their seatbelt when they collided head on with another car. I still remember my parents bawling while locking me and my younger sister in the car, their faces consumed with the looks of fear and shock. My dad and his family still suffer from that car accident and the loss of their son and little brother to this day. I take steps to be a better driver everyday: I wear my seatbelt, use my blinker, and turn off my phone while driving. I tell my friends about my uncle’s accident. I tell them that texts can wait, but the safety of their life or someone else’s can’t.