Safe Driving

Driving is not all fun and games. Receiving a driver's license is not a privilege bestowed lightly. When a driver pulls onto the road, they are putting the lives of their fellow man and themselves at risk due to the immense damage they could commit behind the wheel. In order to avoid harmful crashes, a drivers ed course must be taken in order for a person to earn their license. Taking a drivers ed ensures that the new license recipient has been properly educated on the rules of the road which allows a new driver avoid getting into accidents while they are on the road. In fact, people who fail to take a drivers ed course are 24% more likely to cause/ be in an accident within their first year of driving. To ensure that these courses are taken the government must enforce the importance of taking drivers ed classes and forbid anyone from receiving their license unless they have taking the required classes. The government must also increase the amount of restrictions new drivers encounter to ensure that each person learns to respect the freedom of driving a vehicle. Horrific events cause people to act cautiously in similar situations. On Memorial Day weekend 2016, my family and I were in route pulling our camper up north to spend the holiday weekend camping. An hour away from home, our peaceful voyage took a drastic change. One minute we were ironically talking about the importance of wearing seatbelts and the next we had slammed head-on into a concrete barrier. Our lives could have been terminated in a mere ten seconds. The family suburban and camper were totaled, with no chance of repair, but none of us cared because we all walked away. Later, we discovered that the accident occurred due to a divot we hit in a construction zone, causing the camper to bounce, flip and jackknife into the suburban. From that day on, every person in my family has driven within the speed limit and with extreme caution whenever we hit the road. I can make every person's driving experience safer by sharing my story of my family’s incident and spreading the importance of taking one’s time while especially when in a construction zone. I can also check the weather forecast and prepare properly for the driving conditions of the day to assist in securing the safety of myself, my passengers, and my fellow drivers. There is no such thing as being too safe when lives hang in the balance.