Christina
Owens
Midland
High School
DMV
scholarship
November
30, 2019
The
Hazards of Driving
I
have been driving for almost four years now, and one thing is very
clear: people are reckless. Especially teenagers who are known to
speed and drive carelessly. I have seen this first hand. One of my
closest friends is someone who drives dangerously. She’s someone
who drives 15-20 miles per hour over the speed limit. She gets too
close to other cars and tries to encourage me to do the same.
However, I’m a very cautious driver. I’m terrified of causing an
accident, so I do the speed limit and leave a safe distance between
my car and the car in front of me. I remember one night, around 11
o’clock, we were coming home from a school event. I was in front of
her, one minute she was behind me, and the next moment she was beside
me. She pulled her car up beside me, speeding up and slowing down
while she was in the lane for opposing traffic. I was scared that
this was going to cause an accident, so I slowed down and she cut
over in front of me. The point is, my friend’s reckless driving
scared me, and it has made me determined not to drive like that. I do
not want anyone to get in an accident. 
I
think that it’s important to inform teenagers what their reckless
driving could cause, and explain how a single accident could kill
dozens of people. During driver’s training, we are taught how to
drive. The technical rules of the road and how to handle ourselves
when lights change or there are four-way stops. However, we are not
taught why it’s important to follow the rules of the road. If
teenagers are exposed to the heart-breaking truth of unsafe driving,
they will be more willing to drive safely. Realizing the horror that
could be a result of unsafe driving, will lead to teenagers
understanding why it’s important to follow the rules of the road. 
In
order to reduce the number of deaths, I think it would be a great
idea to have all drivers sit through a virtual reality scenario of a
car accident where they may receive injuries or have other people
die. This will instill respect into the driver, reminding them of the
importance of being cautious when they drive. When people see and
live through experiences like this, it scares them. People will be
less likely to drive recklessly because of the outcomes that could
occur. This will lead to safer driving, and an overall decrease in
the quantity of deaths from reckless driving.
It’s
important to understand why safe driving in necessary. In a
generation where there are almost as many cars as there are people,
it’s a hazard to not drive cautiously. Knowing that you should
drive safely is not the same thing as understanding why it’s
important to drive safely, and teenagers and adults should be aware
of why it’s important to drive safely.
WC:
497