Driver education is crucial for the protection of drivers and pedestrians. Driving is a dangerous thing and it should be treated as such. It is also a privilege. It is something that can and will be taken away if you are found abusing it in any way. Before you start driving there are a number of hoops you have to jump through, and rightfully so. Unfortunately, even with all these hoops, drivers are still doing dangerous things. People are still careless on the road. So how can we fix this? The answer is simple: stop texting and driving. Yes, the answer is simple and it seems easy enough to do but people continue to insist on texting and driving. Every second a person spends looking at their phone is a second they spend not looking at the road. This causes them to be a danger not only to themselves but also to the people in surrounding cars or the pedestrians walking on the street. Hundreds of people die each year because of these reckless drivers and yet knowing this people continue texting and driving like they didn’t. It did not matter that all of these people were dying drivers still find texting more important. Texting is not the only big obstacle when it comes to driving, driving while drunk or intoxicated has also become popular. This is unsafe for obvious reasons. As a person who cannot even walk in a straight line tries to drive they end up hurting themselves if not others. This is why it is important, when you go out drinking, to make sure you have a designated driver or another way to get a driver lined up. This way you do not have to drive home in the state you are in so you can protect yourself and any pedestrian that might be in your way. In my lifetime I have been in two car accidents. The first was in the winter. It had just snowed and there was a layer of ice under the snow. One driver did not consider this at a stop time and they did not have enough time to stop and ended up hitting us. Ever since this encounter, I have been careful when driving in icy conditions making sure I always have enough room to stop to ensure that I do not end up hitting someone else. The second accident I was in was on the highway. My mom had pulled over because there was a big piece of wood in the middle of the road and she did not want someone who was not paying attention to hit it and cause an accident. While we were pulled over there was a pregnant mom on her phone behind us. Since her eyes were on her phone and not on the road she did not see my mom and hit us from the back. Luckily no one was hurt not even the baby but this just shows how dangerous texting and driving can be. It is a serious problem and so many people know that but it goes in one ear and out the other. They see the dangers that are a result of texting and driving but insist “That would never happen to me” or “I’m too careful for that”. However, the same people who say that are the people getting in accidents and no one is to blame but themselves. One way I am going to ensure this does not happen to me is by staying off of my phone when I am driving. My eyes will be nowhere except the road. I will be one of the people who listens to all of the stories out there about people who text and drive. I will be one of the people who applies it to their lives. I will also be sure to never drink and drive which is just as dangerous as texting and driving.
Personally, I do not see myself as the kind of person who will get drunk all the time but if the situation were to arise I would be certain I was not on the road. This is something people struggle with saying “I know my limits,” when they do not know their limits. I will also encourage others to make these choices as well. This is not a problem I can solve on my own. I need the help of others who are willing to make the same changes in their lives as I am in mine.