Teen driving safety is an important public issue because of how likely and at risk they are with getting into accidents. Teenagers being new on the road, having little experience, they are more at risk of hurting themselves or other drivers. This is why driver’s education is so important. To make teenagers aware of the serious consequences they face when they decide to make a bad decision while driving. Driver’s education informs teenagers of all the laws, gives real-life scenarios of what could happen, etc. This gives new drivers as much information as possible to help them make the right decision when the time comes.
As a new era of technology has risen, many people, especially teenagers have become very reliant on their phones. The internet I feel has normalized the use of driving while texting as well as blasting music very loudly. Although ashamed, I do sometimes fall victim to these dangerous habits. Less on the driving while texting but more on the music. I tend to put my music on very loud as it is a way to keep myself entertained while driving however I have come to realize how detrimental it is for me and other drivers. I am distracted by my music that enables me to not pay attention to the road completely and therefore make silly and potentially life-changing mistakes. On the road, I have made countless mistakes from being distracted by my music. Luckily those mistakes haven't been hurtful towards myself and others, however I have come to realize that I do need to make a change in order to ensure more of my safety. My first step is to maybe create a playlist where I am not tempted to put the music too high. That way if I put more calming and less chaotic music I will be less tempted to turn the volume on higher and be distracted by the music playing. Also before driving, I would set the volume at a comfortable tone so that I am not adjusting it while on the road. Other solutions could be to close my windows and try to reduce any outside noises as much as possible so that I don't find a reason to want to turn up my music. Potentially these solutions that I have listed out could help other teenagers to overcome the many similar problems I face while driving. Also while driving with music so loudly, I realize how much of a safety hazard it is. Potentially, a police car or ambulance could be having their sirens on,trying to rush over to save a life or stop someone and I could potentially delay them from doing their job by not being able to hear their sirens and pull over. This is very harmful especially for other people as I could be the reason why the ambulance doesn't make it in time to save someone or a policeman doesn't catch an offender which would leave me with lots of guilt. For driving while texting, this is a huge rising issue that seems to be the cause of most accidents. This is also where driver education becomes very important. If teenagers know all the facts and statistics of how many deaths occur or see a real life situation it can put into perspective how dangerous it is when they put themselves in that situation hence make them more hesitant to want to do that.
I think schools and communities can come together and help bring more awareness to teenagers about how important it is to stay safe on the road. Schools can provide quality driver education programs that are accessible to every student to ensure that every teenager is well equipped and knowledgeable on the road. Also with schools for big events like prom and homecoming, they can provide transportation to help reduce the risk of teenagers drunk driving. Especially teenagers in high school, those bad substances become more appealing thus increasing the risk of driving under the influence extremely high. And especially as teenagers, peer pressure is huge where it makes even the best of kids make un-smart decisions like driving while drinking or even underage drinking. By encouraging a big bus for transportation in events like these, it can help reduce the mortality risk. For communities, they can also come together and maybe prompt safe driving routes that are less prone to teenagers getting accidents. Parent and teenager communication is also so important. If they establish a baseline of what to do or what not to do, it sets the teenagers up to be a more safer driver.