Safe Driving: More Than Just The Rules Of The Road

People often complain about terrible drivers on the road, pointing out drivers who turn into the wrong lanes, don't use turn signals, and follow other cars too closely. To tackle the epidemic of unsafe driving, I believe we must first know what safe driving is. 

Although following the rules of the road is a crucial part of safe driving, it’s not the only part. Safe driving is also largely about paying attention and responding accordingly and cautiously to what people around you are doing. For example, noticing that you’re in the blind spot of the car in the lane next to you, and paying extra attention to them at that time in case they attempt to merge over, or looking briefly at every single crosswalk for pedestrians and being sure to stop fully and allow time for pedestrians to cross safely. But why is this so important? 

Safe driving is incredibly important for so many reasons. Possibly the biggest and most important reason is safety. This becomes blatantly obvious when learning about statistics on traffic-related deaths. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has stated that in 2025 alone, an estimated 36,640 people died in motor vehicle-related accidents. This is tens of thousands of people whose deaths may have been prevented, and hundreds of thousands of people whose grief may have been prevented by more cautious driving and road safety. Road safety is not just important; it can be the difference between life and death. 

Safe driving has an effect on everybody. It affects not just me personally, but my friends and family as well. Each person I know who is middle-aged or older- my mom, my dad, and my grandparents can all quickly recall at least one crash that they’ve all been in. I have friends whose family members have died in crashes and have been heavily affected by the deaths. I have friends who have nearly been hit by cars operated by careless drivers. Just recently, my boyfriend was crossing a road, and an oncoming car sped up to get him to move out of the way. I can’t even fathom how I would’ve coped if something had happened to him. Furthermore, I’m a newer driver. As a newer driver, I’m now constantly noticing little things I never noticed before, such as people who drive way too close behind me, people who turn into the wrong lanes, and people who fail to use their blinkers before merging. As I’ve begun to notice all these mistakes, I also started to look at myself and notice areas that I need to be more cautious about as well. For example, I’ve noticed how sometimes at red lights, I get an impulse to quickly check my phone for notifications, and how my love of loud music can also be a bit of a distraction. Of course, I understand that these are, although common for new and experienced drivers alike, bad habits. So, in the past months I’ve put heavy focus into putting my phone out of my reach, and turning my music down so I can pay as close attention to the road as possible. 

I believe that it is highly important for drivers to self-reflect on the experiences they have on the road and their own driving because reflection is such an accessible and simple learning tool; it can be used for free, it takes only a few minutes, and it can be positive or negative. For example, when driving home, sometimes I’ll see someone turn, but they won’t use the middle turn lane. I’ll take this moment to reflect on the disruption to the flow of traffic that was caused, and why it’s something that should be avoided. Another example is when I’m driving to school, and I notice my music is a little too loud for me to focus; I’ll turn down the music and think about specific instances while driving where focus is critical, such as looking for pedestrians crossing or other cars making poor choices that must be avoided. I often notice when I do this, it helps drive lessons home much faster, leading to my behavior changing for the better, resulting in safer driving. 

All in all, safe driving is an essential part of being on the road, for the safety of drivers, pedestrians, and everyone alike. In order to promote safer driving, I would urge anybody and everybody to reflect on the actions of themselves and others while on the road so you can learn from both your shortcomings and successes, resulting in safe driving and safer roads.