I believe that driver’s education is a very important part in reducing the number of deaths and injuries as a result of driving. I was in a wreck when I was twelve years old. My mother was driving, and she rear-ended a work van because the driver of that van had suddenly slammed on its brakes. We were in a Dodge Charger and because my three other siblings we with us, I was in the front seat, and I was hit with the airbag in the face at twelve years old. I was in shock when this happened and was very scared for my life. All of us in the car had marks from the seatbelts that we were wearing, and we all had whiplash from the sudden stop. After a minute I was able to get out of the car, I had forgotten I was wearing a seatbelt because I was in shock and forgot to take it off. My mother was freaking out and called my father while we all sat in someone’s yard on the side of the road where our wreck had happened. We were only about a mile from our house. I do not blame my mother for this accident and the sheer terror and panic that I felt when it happened. I believe that everyone with a driver’s license should have to retake a driving test at least every ten years, not only to take licenses away from those who should not be driving because of old age but to educate and refresh those who took driver’s education twenty plus years ago. I believe that if my mother had had proper education every ten years after she got her license, this wreck would have been avoided because she would have been paying more attention and remembered the importance of safe and careful driving. Now that I drive myself, I make sure to be extra careful and safe because of this experience that I had at such a young age. I also feel that because I have recently taken driver’s education since I am only seventeen years old, I am more likely to be safer and more careful because that education and training is fresher in my mind and has more of an impact on me than it would my mother or anyone her age. Therefore, I feel that in order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, it should be required to take a driver’s test every ten years in order to keep your license to ensure safety and carefulness of everyone on the road.
I feel that in order for me to be a better and safer driver as well as help others become safer on the road, I can instill the importance of safe driving in others by posting on social media about accidents that have happened recently to show them that these types of things can happen to anyone. I feel that by having this experience of being in a wreck and having the airbag hit me at such a young age, I am more prepared and more careful because I know what can happen and I am so grateful that me, my mother, and my siblings were not horribly injured or killed in the wreck that we were all in. I really do feel like God was protecting us that day and that I need to use this experience to be safer myself and make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again to me or my family. I feel that if I share my thoughts and ideas of the experience that I have had with others, I can show them how important it is to be a safe driver and what can happen if you are not being careful even for a split second. Even though this was a very scary and traumatizing experience for twelve-year-old me, I am grateful for it and the lesson that I learned through experiencing it. I learned that it is important to always be careful when driving even if you are almost at your house or it seems that no one else is on the road at that time. You need to always be on guard when driving and never be on your phone. I do believe that my mother had looked down at her phone for a split second before she slammed into the back of this work van, and that is what caused us to have this wreck and have injuries from seatbelts and airbags that would last for weeks. I know that she didn’t intend for this to happen and I know that she is much more careful know after this experience.