Like
many other high school students, I received my driver’s permit
freshman year. Unlike many students, a couple months before gaining
my license, I lost my cousin. I was at a swim meet, and my dad
picked me up instead of my mom. I figured my mom had just decided to
sleep in or do something for my brother. No big deal. But when I
asked my father, he told me why. My cousin had been hit by a drunk
driver. He was a tow truck driver who was hit while helping a woman
on the side of the freeway. The driver who hit him? A 19 year-old
girl. That was only 3 years older than me. Now I wasn’t very
close with my cousin, but I saw how it affected the rest of my
family. How there’s an empty space where he used to sit on the
couch at Christmas. How the sparkle in his daughter’s eye was
lost. How he was taken from his loved ones because someone did not
think about the consequences.

Now I have been driving for over a year and my friends all drive
too. I see them and others I know make stupid decisions when they
drive. They think that breaking the laws won’t have any
consequences and if they get a ticket then so what. Speeding?
Everyone speeds. Running stop signs? No one was there. Drinking
and driving? It was only one drink I’m fine. When they do and
say this is what I see is them hurting others and themselves. They
don’t realize what could happen if someone was in the wrong place
at the wrong time. How every time they take a risk they could take
the life of someone who is loved, not to mention their own.

So
what now? How can teenagers and others be stopped from making these
rash decisions? The answer is realization. As responsible citizens
of the world we need to make others realize the implications their
decisions have. How what they decide can actually change someone
else’s lives. Perhaps one way is to make announcements over the
television and radio. Constantly reminding people that poor
decisions can take a life is how we can make a difference. How we
can save lives.

Personally,
I am going to make the pledge. The pledge to think twice about my
actions in my vehicle, and what impact those actions can have. The
pledge to encourage those around me to make the right decisions and
to also make this pledge. The pledge to hold others responsible for
their decisions, whether or not they had consequences at that time.
Because maybe, just maybe, they’ll think twice about next time, and
avoid taking a life. I promise to not drink and drive, to not drive
recklessly, and to make the best decisions I can. I promise to
realize the consequences my actions can have. And I hope you can
too.