Ever since I was young I’ve always seen myself behind the wheel. Cruising down the roads with the windows down, wind blowing through me and my friends' hair, and our music blowing out the windows leaving a trail to our destination. Late night drives to the corner store and grabbing a slurpee. The freedom of having control of the wheel made our eyes sparkle. A danger sugarcoated by our fantasies. The leading cause of deaths in the U.S. is reckless driving. A vehicle controlled by the irresponsible either killing themselves, or innocent others.
Before learning to drive my mother ensured I knew the dangers and safeties of driving. I didn’t realize how important they were until someone I knew lost their life to four wheels and a driver. Signs coated in white saying “DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE” being a reminder, but the crosses covered in flowers, and photos of a loved one surrounded by lit candles are a reminder that makes it feel more impactful. The reminder that our recklessness and carelessness could risk ours and others lives. The importance of knowing how to safely drive focuses on ensuring safety across the nation. Education either by a teacher, friend, or guardian helps alert our young, new drivers and a reminder to our older drivers to keep a constant skill of safety. One so easily to learn. Checking your mirrors, looking left to right, practicing a balanced safe speed are all habits that keep a continuing practice of safe driving.
It’s not just drivers that can take steps to ensure safety. It can be promised with pedestrians as well taking measures to keep caution. Examples of creating the habit of safety are looking both ways before you cross the road, keeping young ones near when in public, especially near roads. But that’s just for pedestrians, for the government they can maintain safe speed limits, upgrade roads to ensure safety, better signage, more visible lane markings, and proper lighting. As well as building safer sidewalks, bike lanes, and creating more high tech light structures, ones that can maintain a better traffic flow and reduce accidents at intersections. Other steps that can be taken are promoting safety technology in vehicles like advanced driver assistance systems like automatic braking, lane keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control, and collision warning systems could help bring more safety to our roads. Also promoting seat belts being worn by all passengers and not just the driver, and ensuring regular vehicle inspections or maintenance.
Almost every weekend my father leaves the house and goes out to the bar, but before he leaves he drinks from a short clear glass filled with some liquid poured from a glass bottle labeled hennessy. He finishes his drink, leaves the house and I don’t see him till the morning. I hope when he leaves he’s responsible enough to know to find a way home that isn’t himself. Some days he asks me to pick him up, others I don’t see his car in the driveway until the next morning around the afternoon. It’s always a mystery where he goes but I just hope he’s safe.
Steps myself I can take to be a better and safer driver is to continue to educate myself on the rules of the road and the safety precautions I should follow daily to ensure my own and others safety. I stop at every stop sign just like the law states and hope ones around me do as well. Not only that but if I am out with my family and they’ve had a couple of drinks I offer to drive to make sure they get home safe. I love my family and friends and I want to make sure they can live to see the very next day. Vehicles are very dangerous things and without the right measures it can be life threatening. Which is why everyone should act as myself. By keeping loved ones in mind when driving, and the other drivers on the road who also have people waiting at home for them.
Every morning I pick up my best friend, Elena, and I take us to school. Before I drive away from her house our belts are buckled, and when the car starts at every stop sign we rotate our heads from left to right checking for passing cars. To protect her life every morning I follow the same routine to keep her safe because she is a loved one. And I hope others in my community take action in trying to pursue the same passions of safety as I do. To save another life by protecting their own. By making sure that little girl who watches her older brother drive can feel safe in her dreams.