Stay Vigilant

Driving a vehicle is an important aspect of people’s daily lives, but attention to detail is not always applied. Over the years, more and more teens and young adults have become prone to accidents and traffic violations, but it’s not only teenagers, it's generations. Many believe this increase in accidents has been caused by cellular devices, but it's believed to be an effect of our faults. Some steps can be taken to reduce injuries and deaths, but these steps are becoming less followed every day.

One of the roots of being safe while driving has been linked to the drivers ed courses that have been taken by sophomores in high school. A new study has found that more than 150,000 teen drivers, over 8 years, have found that drivers education significantly reduces crashes. Drivers ed not only teaches the important details of safe driving, but it also prepares the students for their road test. Increasing student’s confidence in their driving abilities, Drivers Ed helps prevent accidents caused by weary decisions. Not only does this course teaches the foundations of driving, but it gives the students the experience they need to be cautious drivers.

The most commonly found cause of motor vehicle accidents is distracted driving. No matter what we do or who we drive with, there’s always at least one distraction in the car while you are driving. Cell phones have not only become popular in the past 5 years, but they have also become the main cause of distracted driving accidents. Studies have shown that cell phones cause nearly 1.6 million car accidents a year, and most likely half of those accidents involved teenage drivers. Over the years we have been quick to blame cell phones on these accidents, but every car has a main distraction. The radio system most cars have caused a fair amount of accidents. Studies have shown that while listening to music, your reaction time slows down by 20%.

Being a teenager in the world today, I experience many situations that contribute to unsafe driving. To say the least, several of my friends have a habit of driving while using their phone. Whether it’s snap chat, Instagram, or texting, their eyes are off the road. It can be hard to speak up and ask them to put their phones away, but it’s better they get angry at you than being in the hospital not able to move. I have not personally experienced a loss due to driving habits, but 5 minutes of unsafe driving is not worth losing someone.

Preventing accidents due to carelessness is not difficult, as long as you follow a few simple steps. Keeping your phone away, driving sober, maintaining your attention on the road, keeping the radio at a low volume, and simply practicing safe driving habits are all things that we can do to prevent careless mistakes that can turn into awful situations.

In conclusion, driving is a major privilege that if not taken seriously can cause injuries, and in some unfortunate cases, fatalities. Being the cause of an accident is an awful place to be in, but being there because of a fault of your own is worse than imaginable. Practice safe driving habits, and keep the lives of yourself and others protected.