People always say that big city drivers are the worst and after living in a big city for a while, I completely agree. For some reason, a lot of drivers don’t contemplate the reality of the vehicles they’re driving. Essentially, cars are giant metal death traps fueled by combustion that can go over 100 miles per hour and the only thing preventing you from harm in the event of an accident is a bag filled with air and a 2-inch strip of polyester. If people took their cars more seriously and driving more seriously, the number of accidents and deaths on the road would greatly decrease. Driver education not only teaches us how to drive a car, but how to be safe. Driver education teaches people how to understand other drivers and keep themselves safe. We learn how to eliminate distractions and create a safe driving environment. We also learn about common driving accidents caused by inattentiveness or inebriation through the videos provided in the lessons.
Mandatory driver education, regardless of age, is the best way to reduce the number of vehicular deaths. When people over eighteen get their licenses, they take a test on how well they operate the car, but there’s no guarantee that they know how to behave within the car. A large portion of driver education concerns being a vigilant and undistracted driver. Those lessons instill a sense of precaution within the learner that gets carried with them every time they drive. Another beneficial action would be to produce more PSAs for the general public. Everyone always laughs about the drug commercials from the 1980s with broken eggs and weird metaphors. But, at the same time, people have internalized the message that doing drugs is bad. PSAs remind the public about the dangers of certain actions, so publishing more car-related PSAs, no matter their success, will remind the public that danger always exists when on the road. Finally, I would appreciate it if more states had better penalties for texting and driving. Countless studies have shown that attempting to multitask while driving decreases your awareness and increases your likelihood of getting in an accident. Because people don’t take these facts seriously, I believe that greater penalties, including larger fines, community service, and adding license points would greatly deter people from using their phones while driving. A concerning number of people won’t take the initiative to prevent accidents for their safety and the safety of others. Adding or increasing penalties will ensure that people are deterred from becoming a hazard on the road.
I’m quite fortunate to have never been in a car accident because the person driving the car was on their phone. However, both of the times that someone rear-ended my mom’s car were because the drivers were texting. The damage was minimal, but it was frightening to think that if the people driving had their foot down on the gas pedal just an inch more, we could’ve been severely injured. And yet, my parents still occasionally drive irresponsibly. Sometimes, if my mom is running late, she’ll lower her sun visor and use the mirror to put on her lipstick while driving. I’ve asked her before to just wait until we get to our destination, but she insists that she’ll be quick. It only takes a few seconds for something to go wrong, and I’m afraid that one day it will. My dad used to text and drive, but now he’s moved to voice texting and driving. Although voice-texting is moderately safer, he still uses his Apple watch to read the texts in the first place. Reading from a phone was dangerous enough, but now he reads from a screen that’s barely an inch tall. I offer to read his texts for him to keep us safe, but he insists that it’s faster for him to just read them. Sometimes I wonder if he prioritizes convenience over our lives. My parents scare me sometimes on the road, but even in their brief instances of inattentiveness, they’re still some of the safer drivers I know.
To keep myself, my friends, and my family safe, I make sure that I’m never distracted while driving. My eyes are always on the road and never on anything else. Before I step foot in the car, I set up whatever music I’m listening to because I don’t want to be distracted by it and try to change the song while driving. I put my phone on Do Not Disturb before starting the car and I throw anything that could possibly distract me into the back seat. I keep my music low so I can hear what’s around me. And, if I ever feel like I’m not in a good state to drive, I ask someone else to, or I pull over until I feel alright. I try to encourage my friends and family to do the same. If I know that my dad’s going to be distracted by the sports radio shows he listens to, I offer to drive so that he can pay attention to the show and I can pay attention to the road. If I notice my mom is running late and I’m not, I offer to warm up the car and drive so that she can get everything together in the car. If my friends don’t feel comfortable driving somewhere, I offer to carpool with them. I try my hardest to make sure that everyone around me, including myself, drives distraction-free. I’m incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by people who would never drink and drive or get high and drive, but they still need to work on the minor distractions that can be just as dangerous.