Everyone is excited once they find out they finally have their license. Teenagers are excited as now they can drive not only themselves but their friends around too. They can drive to school instead of having to take the public-school buses that contain different odors and underclassmen. Even parents are excited once they discover their child finally has their driver's license. No more driving them to school. No more driving them to practice. No more driving them to social events or functions either. Just simply enjoying that newfound relaxation of not always needing to chauffeur their kids everywhere. However, that newfound relaxation may not last as long as parents would hope.
Thousands of people die due to motor vehicle accidents per year. These thousands of deaths are increasing by 10% - 15% each year. A lot of these deaths have a lot to do with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. In school and of course by family, teens are constantly told never to drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs; however, these things aren’t necessarily taught as strictly as they should be. As a teenager myself, I have been to many parties and functions where there has been alcohol and drugs. I have friends that participate in the consumption of drugs and alcohol and are even more willing to participate in those things when at a party. Although I can’t control my friends’ actions or anyone else’s for that matter, I do my best to remind my friends to avoid drugs and alcohol and to not drive while under the influence. I try to at least tell them to be cautious of how much they consume. Even still, as I said, teens are excited to get their license and go do whatever they want; so, most precautions, warnings, and even things that were taught and shown to us in school and/or by our parents are all forgotten due to the excitement and adrenaline rush of having their own transportation. I saw this firsthand when one of my friends, a passenger, got into an accident due to being involved in irresponsible driving. Over the summer, there was a party that people from schools all over the county went to and of course, there were all different types of alcohol and drugs there. I couldn’t attend this party due to me being out of town, so I knew nothing of it. However, one of my friends went to the party and consumed countless alcoholic beverages and numerous drugs. She had planned to ride back with one of her other friends, who also attended the party and who agreed to be the designated driver for the group. Yet, by the end of the party, the designated driver had consumed a few drinks and hadn’t told any of her passengers. To get everyone home, the intoxicated driver drove on one of the windiest roads in the area; a road so curvy that people try to avoid it even in the daytime. The night the accident occurred it was extremely wet from the ongoing thunderstorm. The car ended up hydroplaning leaving it totaled and everyone in it with injuries. The driver had a broken arm, and the rest of the passengers had a few cuts and bruises, but my friend, who was in the passenger seat, got the worst of it all. Her nose was split apart with skin hanging from her face, she had broken ribs, cuts, bruises and even a concussion. Luckily, she healed after many months, but the scars and marks left on her face are a constant reminder of what can happen when under the influence of alcohol and drugs. She now rarely drinks and doesn’t do drugs anymore other than vaping due to trauma.
Gratefully all passengers and the driver all survived the crash and are healed now; however, this event like others should be highlighted, thoroughly taught, and warned about when it comes to driver's education being taught in school. The importance of driver’s education and behind the wheel hands-on training in reducing the number of motor vehicle deaths, preventing crashes such as major ones like this or even minor accidents like hitting a parked car is paramount. The classes teach the importance of wearing your seatbelt, use of headlights and turn signals, sobriety while driving and the consequences of speeding. These are all to keep people safe and alive to avoid the increasing numbers of car accident deaths per year. Although, there are a few things that could be added to driver’s education classes to help reduce the number of deaths each year. I would suggest incorporating interactive technology such as crash simulators, bringing in guest speakers consisting of people who were involved in an accident due to irresponsible driving to talk about their experiences to classes, and even practicing driving on windy roads in the behind the wheel portion of driver’s education in school. It isn’t realistic to think that teenagers or even adults will drive without loud music or noisy passengers; therefore, I believe it would be great to include a focus or alert test on the driving exam; this would allow drivers to see what gets people distracted and how they will react in the situation. All of these recommendations could potentially reduce the numbers of deaths related to driving. I could even incorporate these suggestions into my driving ability while sharing with others in an effort to become safer drivers. Instead of only warning people of what could happen due to the consumption of drugs and alcohol, I could show them a few examples or even tell them the story of my friend’s accident to reach them at a more personal level to stress the severity of driving while under the influence of any substance or in an altered state. I could also make sure everyone in the vehicle is wearing their seatbelt over their chest and not just slung across their back. Reducing the deaths due to driving is going to be a hard problem to solve as people make their own decisions and can’t be controlled but simply checking on your passengers and paying attention in driver’s education classes is a good first step.