Car accidents are a sad and dangerous reality that takes the lives of many human lives daily. Everyone knows someone or has heard a tragic story of a car accident that has profoundly impacted one or many people's lives. Many car accidents could have been prevented by educating drivers about the impact of their choices and that nothing is worth not making it home to your family. As said in the Spiderman movies, “With great power comes great responsibility.” That statement could not be truer in our technologically advanced age. People of all ages drive on the roads, but none are free from the risk of being affected by a car accident. Driving is scary for many, and because of this, I was utterly terrified to learn to drive. Being a young person with less than five years of driving under their belt, I see how risky it is, and one day, you can vanish. Driving can end one’s life in a second, but it also can get you to where you need to go.
In my life, I have heard countless stories of my loved ones, my dearest friends, and people I didn’t know well. The sheer number of stories I could tell here terrifies me; it was a theme that became just another moment in my life. Something so tragic as a car accident became something I got used to. When my dad got into an accident, he got T-boned by a car that was going too fast and didn’t stop or slow down. My dad was luckily all right, but what if he had not been? I could have lost my father on a normal day just because someone was going too fast. Car accidents break families apart and sever your earthly connection all because of one choice. All it takes is a choice not to slow down or to look down at your phone to end your or another's life. That idea horrifies me, but that’s where driver’s education comes into the equation. Driver education can help reduce the number of deaths resulting from accidents and educate people on the proper steps to take when faced with a situation that elicits a singular choice that makes or breaks life.
Although high schoolers are required to take a driver's education class, adults are not required to do so once they have that driver’s license. Drivers should be required to stay up to date on driving laws and be tested every ten years to ensure they can drive safely as well. Focus-checking tech should be created to check if the driver is doing anything besides driving safely and having permanent car settings that bring a driver back down to the speed limit. For both changes, the drivers who do not make the system use either will be rewarded with cheaper insurance or other rewards. Ensuring that the driver focuses on the road and that they are driving the speed limit would also reduce the number of people arrested for speeding. This technology could reduce the impact of distracted or reckless drivers to almost zero. Besides creating tech to manage human error, people can review the driving laws and the appropriate measures to take if a situation arises.
In my years of driving, I have learned that a good number of people don’t value others' safety. I learned this lesson most prominently when I was 13, and my boyfriend's father was driving us to my boyfriend's work party/meeting at a lake house. I had not known that his father had drunk and was unstable at that moment, but he was. We were driving beside a river, and he threatened to drive us into it. It was framed as a joke, but he motioned to yank the wheel to the right. That was the day I realized that just because someone has been driving for a long time doesn’t mean they are good or safe. This is just one shaping experience of my perspective of a safe driver; I had many friends who almost died in accidents. By the age I was meant to start learning to drive, I saw how much of a responsibility having a license was. All drivers need to be conscious of the impact of their choices and drive with care.
Although I haven’t been in an accident myself, my experiences have shaped my perspective and made me a better driver. I have learned to be alert of my surroundings and the driver and that your one job when driving is to drive safely and not to be distracted. Many may say they can multitask effectively, but it is not worth the risk of not returning to your family that night. Driving is a multi-element task that requires our complete focus: stay off your phone, stay out of conversations, and always stay alert. Technology to manage our driving is a possible tool to reduce the number of accidents, but also it is another thing that distracts us. Lastly, it is up to us whether or not we are responsible drivers, so make good choices and don’t make a choice that’ll change your or another's life.