The
Risks of Reckless Driving

by
Leslie Meza



When
I turned 16, my best friend got his license. He was the oldest in my
friend group, so he received his license before anyone else did. This
was a big deal to us because having a driver’s license was like
having freedom. My friend’s parents let him use their car whenever
they did not need it, so whenever we would hang out, he insisted on
giving everyone a ride. As far as we could tell, he was a great
driver, and no one else could drive, so there was no reason to
protest. He was not a bad driver by any means; he was just an
irresponsible driver. He would do little things like speed, take
harsh turns, and slam the breaks to annoy us. This never worried me,
so I never mulled over his reckless actions. I had only ever been
warned about texting while driving and driving under the influence,
so to me, his actions did not seem dangerous enough to warrant any
attention, let alone worry. It was not until my grandparents got in a
car accident that I began to notice how dangerous his seemingly
harmless actions were to me as a passenger.

My
grandparents had been driving back home from the store when they were
hit by a car that was going 25 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Thankfully, they were not badly injured, but it was still a
frightening experience. After the accident, my parents gathered my
siblings and me up to discuss the importance of safe driving. They
explained that even the smallest acts of recklessness could hurt the
driver, the passengers, and any person outside of the car. They
insisted that we had to enforce safe and responsible driving even if
we were not the ones behind the wheel.

After
that, I became more aware of how irresponsibly my friend drove. I
pointed that out to him and explained that I was not comfortable with
him driving me around. Fortunately, he stopped being so reckless
behind the wheel once it was brought to his attention. Fortunately,
no one was fatally injured because of irresponsible driving in my
story, but the same cannot be said for other instances. To reduce the
risk of car accidents due to irresponsible driving, drivers ed
classes should remind young drivers of the risks of being careless
when they are behind the wheel. It is important to teach young
drivers the danger of driving under the influence and texting and
driving, but it is equally important to discuss smaller reckless
actions, like brake checking or running stop signs. If reckless
driving is addressed in drivers ed classes, then it can help
reduce the number of deaths as a result of careless driving.