Others' Lives Are In Your Hands

As an eager 15 year old, you are finishing the final lessons of your online drivers ed program. Without even noticing you begin to get on your phone and text your friend. In those few minutes that you were distracted, you missed information that was essential for safe driving. In today's society, with drivers ed being mostly online, teenagers seem to pay less attention or completely ignore the material being taught in the programs. Drivers ed programs play a very important role in teaching how to drive smart, safe, and efficiently. Taking drivers ed programs seriously by reading, listening, and asking questions could be the difference in a life or death situation behind the wheel. Informed people show a greater chance of following the rules; and in turn, possibly help lower the number of deaths from driving related accidents. One thing that can begin to be enforced is to make teenagers take their drivers education course in-person with an instructor rather than online. This would allow the instructor to make sure the teenager is learning all the necessary material to know how to drive the right way in order to help decrease the number of driving related deaths. 

Just a couple years ago I was a freshman in high school. This was a big year in my books, I got my drivers license. As a young 16 year old, getting your driver's license feels like a ticket to freedom; you feel invincible. You’re constantly being reminded about everything that could go wrong; wear your seatbelt, don’t text and drive, don’t drink and drive. Of course, as an ignorant teenager you think nothing will happen to you. If that’s the case, you’re wrong. One Saturday morning I was informed that one of my friends had gotten in a really bad car accident the night before and was in route to the hospital. I was in shock, but then started thinking, he will be fine, it’s just a wreck. That was not the case. Little did I know this boy had been out drinking with his buddies and realized he was late for curfew, so he got in his car and started speeding down a country road trying to get home as fast as possible. He swerved just a tad, and when he tried to correct himself, he pulled the wheel too hard and was flying into the other lane and then into a field. He flipped multiple times, and eventually thrown out of his car. He laid there for hours until he was found, and at that point it was too late. Losing a friend in a car accident really opens your eyes.

In order to become a better, safer driver we need to pay attention to our drivers ed course, and make sure we apply what we learn to drive on the road. You can help others by explaining the consequences of irresponsible driving and prompting them to always drive safe and smart.