Driving is one of the most dangerous activities, yet nobody values it as a deadly activity because of how common it is to drive. Many people believe that driving is an easy skill and multitasking while doing so is simple and safe. This common misconception is a deathly mistake that many drivers make and leads to the deaths of far too many people. Drivers must be educated and well-prepared before going on the road. Without sed preparations bad accidents can occur and the death toll will inevitably increase. With proper training, the death toll due to driving accidents could be significantly reduced. So what exactly can we do? Well first, driver education should be necessary for all people to take and in this specific class, they should expand their lessons to include the death toll per year and the specific state that they are in. They should repetitively teach different ways you should not drive and how to handle the situation. Some of the points to cover should be driving under the influence, being exhausted, while multitasking, and being distracted by other factors. There should also be a lesson in this program that talks about being a good passenger and not being distracted because teen drivers tend to drive more erratically with friends in the car. Another option that should be available is online lessons that people could take in order to be safer drivers and to gain more knowledge outside of the driver education course. Finally, there should be apps built into phones that are optional to use but provide restricted access when it detects that the owner of the phone is driving. This of course could be disabled with specific passcodes but with this extra layer of inconvenience, it is less likely that people will wish to use their phones while driving. These lessons will ultimately make the road safer for all drivers.
One of my best friends was in a car accident roughly two and a half years ago. His mother was driving their car and a large truck, which the driver fell asleep on the road, struck the front in a head-on collision, and left my friend with permanent knee damage and many cuts and bruises. His mother was also bruised and battered and had to be hospitalized for a short while. They were lucky to survive this head-on collision with the large truck because they were in a minivan, both in the front seats. I remember watching him walk into class, sulking, a few days later, and his arms were caked in scrapes and looking like he had not slept in days. My teacher cracked a joke about him fighting a bear to get those cuts. He has been fighting in court and continuously has to testify every couple of months for the past two and a half years since the accident. My friend told me every time he had to go to court, “I don’t want to have to relive this event anymore please let this be the last time.” Hearing him tell me this broke my heart and I hoped and prayed every time he went to court that it truly would be his last time going there. Finally, this past month, he got the payout from the accident and will not have to testify any longer. The end of this case finally gave him the closure he needed. The fact that he now does not have to constantly think about the next court date creates more peace in his life. Not only the physical, but emotional toll this event had on him makes me believe that people should learn to be better drivers for the wellbeing of humanity.
I hope to one day hone my skills to be the best driver I can be. While I am still learning and will always be learning new things to make my driving safer, I will do my very best to not only keep my speed down but to pull over if doing any unsafe habits. I will always and have always focused completely on my driving when I am on the road. I will also always ensure my friends around me are safe drivers and not overstepping any safety precautions while they are driving. While I cannot help the world, I hope to help these few people to make it just a little bit safer for every driver. The many distractions that can appear while driving are very dangerous but by providing options and solutions to these issues people can be safer drivers.