The Essentials of Safe Driving, for All of Our Sakes

Garcia 3

Mia Garcia

The Essentials of Safe Driving, for All of Our Sakes

To briefly introduce myself, my name is Mia Garcia and I am a senior attending Mission Heights Preparatory High School in Casa Grande, Arizona. I am a student who is trying their best to attend college and pursue my desire to become a counselor to help people in situations that I have gone through.

There is a high value of the importance of drivers ed for reducing the number of deaths. In 2017, alone 37,133 people were killed in car accidents and 47% of them were not wearing seatbelts. An estimate of 14,955 people's lives was wearing seat belts and 2,549 people could have been saved. 3,166 people were killed, 34,247 accidents and 15, 341 fatal crashes were all due to cell phone distraction. With alcohol intoxication, 10,497 people were killed and 28% of traffic accidents were due to alcohol intoxication and 9,717 people were killed from speeding. These aren’t just statistics that I have names but these are people. Reading this you may simply see numbers but those are families, friends, loved ones and missed ones. These numbers are way too high and having these numbers, in general, is heartbreaking to see. This is why it is important that driver education and needs to be pushed.

I know someone close to me that is a part of those statistics. She was speeding with three passengers in her truck and neither of them were wearing seatbelts. August 19, 2019, two kids died who shouldn’t have. This event took a huge toll on my very small school. To add to this, my sister herself was not the one responsible but she was T-Boned due to a minor being distracted by his cell phone and ran a red light. This resulted in her having three fractures in her lower left lumbar and took four weeks to recover and a 3.8 centimeter gash in the back of her head. She missed four weeks of pay and is now permanently hurt and will have back problems for the rest of her life, she is only 21 years-old. Although, she was blessed to have the car hit her and miss serious damage by a foot. Damage was still a factor but not to the point that I may never see my sister again.

Ways to reduce these misfortunes are simple but powerful. When first getting into a car, check everything. Are in a reliable state to be on the road? Is your seatbelt on? Are your mirrors in their right position? Is the air conditioning working? Is the music you want to listen to? Check. Now, you’re driving. Are you staying in the speed limit? Is your phone on silent and put away? Do you know where you’re heading? Are your headlights on? These are the questions you need to ask yourself or even the person you’re driving with for the sake of your own and other’s life.

Work Cited

“Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving.” Edgarsnyder.com, www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics.html.

“Impaired Driving: Get the Facts | Motor Vehicle Safety | CDC Injury Center.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html.

[email protected]. “Seat Belts.” NHTSA, 17 July 2019, www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/seat-belts.

[email protected]. “Speeding.” NHTSA, 24 July 2019, www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/speeding.