When I was first getting my license, I would see everyone on the road as an obstacle that stood in my way to get from where I was to where I was going. Everyone else on the road was driving too fast or not fast enough. Then I saw an accident on the news, and it was someone I hadn’t known personally but had always traveled the same circles with. He had been drinking the night of the accident at a bonfire like he did every weekend. This night though had been the night of his brothers win at a state tournament for wrestling, he was thrilled and was not noticing how much he was drinking. Everyone told him to stay in town and not to drive but he wasn’t in the mood to listen and brushed them all off. He drove and, on his way, home got into a car crash and died. He was a recent high school graduate of the year prior, and his brother was two years younger. My older brother had been in the same grade as him and I am in the same grade as his brother, I just couldn’t believe that one mistake could cost a life. Teenagers need to be aware that when a person gets behind the wheel and they are not at their one hundred percent then they should get out of the car because while it sometimes ends normally, other times it can end in tragedy.
Communities should post a curfew for teenagers to ensure that not nearly as many deaths are caused by driving accidents. If there was a curfew then the teenagers would be less able to drink than they are now and would be more likely to get caught upon getting behind the wheel. In addition, teenagers could help push back against the issue of so many deaths due to vehicular accidents by not drinking, texting, calling, or listening to music while driving or even directly before driving because all these things can cause less focus on the road and end in death. Schools should offer driving education classes and help those who can’t afford driving lessons, because this could help save lives by having more educated drivers on the road.
To continue, today young adults face peer pressure to do things such as drink alcohol, smoke weed, and even things as small as text while driving. These things while some big and others small can impact ways that teenagers drive which impacts the number of deaths amongst them. Drinking alcohol or smoking weed renders the user a state of mind that isn’t alert enough to drive a vehicle and respond to the needs of the road. Texting and driving while seemingly minimal is indeed not. When a person texts while driving it takes their focus off the road where even a second distraction can cause a terrible outcome. The road provides a lot of occasions where a last-minute stop can save a life, or the use of a blinker can help to prevent a crash. All these occasions need a person to be alert and aware of their surroundings which peer pressure can persuade a person to take actions that make the person less aware and overall, more of a hazard on the road than a driver.
Furthermore, teens often face problems like lack of experience while driving. Lack of experience in the driving realm can be confronted and stopped, a person can take more on hand driver education lessons or even be in the car while another person is driving and taking in things such as the speed limit and what signs mean. A person also could drive themselves on country roads and other places where the traffic is less dense to become familiar with road signs and the car they are driving. From there a person could slowly build their way up to driving in a bustling city like New York or Los Angeles. To summarize, lack of experience is an issue that can be resolved quite easily in numerous ways.
Moreover, teenagers may be distracted while driving on the road, especially if they have other people in their car. When driving there are numerous distractions such as conversations occurring in the car, bright lights, or even other cars on the road. These distractions can be taken care of by averting your gaze when faced with a bright light such as the headlights of an unaware approaching car or asking for silence when driving. Another solution would be to avoid caring what other people on the road are doing and focusing on your own driving and the cars immediately surrounding you.
Lastly, driver safety is important because as stated prior, one mistake can cost a life. Where else can a person die just because an accident? However, driver safety can always be improved and is often helped by driver education courses taken by young drivers. In driving education courses an instructor helps to explain what signage is and the how down to the color of a sign can indicate the type of knowledge conveyed. In addition, driving educations courses often have on hand experience which helps a young driver to feel more confident in their driving abilities and it gives them a beginning to build from.
To conclude, distractions, peer pressure, and lack of experience can be addressed by a driver which can help to save a life. Also, driver education courses can help a driver on their confidence and knowledge of the road. Moreover, communities and schools can help with the young adult community by imposing curfews, and free driver educations courses.