The Steps To Improve Safe Driving

Jayson Brewer

Saint Vincent College.

In The Driver’s Seat Scholarship

Driver’s education is very important in today’s need for driving. Most drivers now are very unsafe while driving. Younger/ or newer drivers are now on their phone’s while driving at a higher percentage than ever has been. A lot of car accidents are caused by driving while impaired by drugs or medication, but the higher percentage is texting while driving. The number of fatalities in U.S. highway deaths in 2005 was its highest at around 45,000. In 2012 it decreased to around 35,000. This was due to younger drivers staying off their phones and drivers ed. I myself took drivers ed. I passed my road test first try due to drivers ed. Drivers ed breaks a lot of bad habits parents teach us while driving. Parents themselves text and drive or are on their phone while driving. Some steps that can lead to lowering the total deaths in driving are some very simple steps that everyone can make. There are many steps that can fix a lot of issues we have in driving and solve many car accidents.

The numbers were at their highest in 2005 with highway deaths being around 40,000 which is higher than deaths that American had in American Revolutionary war, Korean war, War of 1812, our current war with Afghanistan, and the war with Mexico back in 1846. These numbers are ridiculously high. They show that as a country we have very unsafe habits that we develop either from learning from family members, or even just from over time of thinking that we are safe drivers when in fact the statistics show we are not. We have a sense that if we have not been in a car accident or do not cause them, we are still safe drivers when that is not how it works. People need to keep in their heads that they are basically driving a mobile missile. They need to be safe when driving or they can take someone else’s life or even their own.

Drivers ed is one small step you can take to lower the number of deaths that car accidents lead to. Drivers ed breaks down the rules of the road and attempt to fix all bad habits drivers have. People just look at drivers ed as a way to either get their driver’s license early, or even as a way to just pass their road test. These are negligent way’s of looking at drivers ed. Driver’s education’s purpose is a way to teach you safe driving to protect your own life and others. Drivers ed is to teach good habits and safe driving. Without drivers ed the younger generation would have way more fatal accidents. Drivers ed teaches not just younger generations either. It helps older people to try and review things that they forgotten due to their bad habits. Most adults think of drivers ed as something that they would not learn anything from because everyone once they get their driver’s license thinks that they are perfect driver’s.

To become a better and safer driver there are many steps that everyone can take to make sure that their life and others are safe. First step would be to buckle up. Buckling up would save your life in one way or another. Buckling up can stop you from smashing your head into the dashboard of the car. It can also stop you from flying through the front windshield of the car in case of a head-on collision. Not being buckled up now can even result into a ticket, as state troopers monitor drivers for seatbelt wear in the “Click it or Ticket” campaign. This is not meant to punish people as many other thinks it is. Its meant to keep you safe. I see many people on the road not even wearing a seatbelt back home in Long Island because people think that just because they are going to a place maybe 10 mins from home that they will not need to wear a seatbelt.

The second step would be to check the vehicle’s surroundings. It is always important to check your surrounding no matter where you are. You always want to check the left and right of you for every turn you are making. People think that just because they look left to right once that they are safe when they do not see anyone coming. Most of the time people only look one way. This is due to people becoming lazy when driving and thinking that they have the right of way in most cases. A lot of people forget the rules of right of way and cause some small crashes. The biggest spot this happens at is at four way stop signs. A lot of people just think that they have the right of way. The right of way is for whoever got there first, then second...ect. Most people with however they think will believe that they have the right of way when in regard to the rule of the road, in most cases turns out that they don’t have the right of way in a majority of car accidents.

The third step would be to make sure if you have younger kids that they are buckled into their booster seats and to not let them wonder around unbuckled in the car. A lot of younger kids who die in car crashes usually are killed due to them not being either buckled in the right way or them not being buckled up at all in their booster seats. With them not being buckled up they have a high risk flying around the car or even go out of a window. A lot of younger parents tend to think that their child is safe with them in the car. If your younger child is not in their booster seat they have a high risk of fatal injuries in car accidents.

The fourth step would be to not go over the speed limit. Is it really safe to go over the speed limit? Well, I guess in some cases it is. Going maybe like five miles per hour over the speed limit is not too much of a big deal but going over that is. People have to remember that they are driving a mobile rocket. A modern-day cars maximum speed is roughly about 140 without any modifications. People who speed sometimes forget that it takes a lot more distance to slow down while braking when speeding. The faster you go, the more room you need to slow down safely while braking. This tends to cause a lot of “fender benders”, as we call them. Speeding is the second largest cause of fender benders the second is texting while driving.

The fifth step toward safety is making sure everything in your car is functioning right. While you’re driving, if something feels funny, bring it to a mechanic or dealership. If your car is not functioning normally, then it is going to need some repairs. Now I understand its pretty costly to fix a car. I am a mechanic after all. It is not cheap to fix any car even for minor maintenance. Just think of your brakes for example. Say that you have not changed your brakes in a year. You are at a higher risk of a car accident due to the fact that it is going to take longer for your brake pads to grab the rotor and slow down the wheel due to constant wear and tear on the brake pads and the rotor. Even having a brake light out can be a big thing. Having a brake light out can cause a fender bender which can be small or even fatal. The person behind you might not even notice when you brake due to the light not initiating when you press the brake pedal so they might not even brake.

The sixth step is to avoid phone usage while driving. Possibly the biggest cause of fatalities while driving is cell phones. A lot of people either call or even text while driving. Bluetooth solves a big issue for calling while driving. It tends to take your eyes off the road less than texting now. Texting and driving is the worse out of the two. Texting requires your eyes on your phone and then you are not looking at the road. You have a higher chance to do a lot of more illegal things when texting and driving, like blowing through a stop sign or a red light. These lead to even getting pulled over by a cop or the traffic light taking a picture of your license plate and you getting a ticket though the mail. Texting and driving have led to electronic signs posted everywhere saying to “Do not text and drive and save a life.” Researchers have even stated that texting and driving is six times more likely to lead to a car accident than drinking and driving. Needless to say, texting and driving is possibly the worse thing to do while driving and that people need to realize that the road is not safe until everyone stops doing it.

As I stated earlier I myself have lost a close friend/brother due to a car accident. He was an all-county wrestler in my high school and played on the best high school football team my high school had in 2008. His name was slandered due to him having Adderall in the car at the accident, but he did not cause the accident. He was not high he; used it to help him control his ADHD. He did not cause the accident. When in fact the other driver who was around his age was texting and driving when she hit him head on causing them both to die. His body went flying through the car windshield and he instantly broke around 20-60 bones in his entire body. He did not die right away but he was unconscious. He was flown to Stony Brook hospital, where he was operated on to figure out the extent of his injuries. They were trying to figure out what was causing him to lose a lot of blood. He had slow internal bleeding, which lead to his death. I found out that Saturday, December 5th-, 2015, one of the worst days of my life. My best friend/brother basically who was on his way to come pick me up to hangout as a surprise had died from a car accident that he did not even cause. Worse yet, his name was slandered. I was heartbroken and took me several months to recover and not blame myself for his death. I just remember causing self-harm to myself and not talking to anyone, still going to school not telling anyone but just crying in class. I did not start talking to anyone until my football coach pulled me to the side because I was not acting right for the last few months, and then I finally told someone the whole story and how it affected me.

As a country that tries to fix other countries issues, we need to start on fixing our own. Safe driving need’s to be the first thing we fix. Safe driving will help save many people’s lives. We need to realize we have a major problem going on in out country. Many people are taking driving as a simple thing were you do not have to worry about anymore. When in fact we are losing a lot of people every year from car accidents. Everyone needs to start taking steps to improve their driving to help save lives. Drivers ed could be the first step. Or even just making sure you do the basic steps that many people do not do anymore. Like checking both sides before turning can even make a big difference. Basically people just need to make steps or even take action at trying to improve safe driving so people do not have to go thought the issues of losing love ones because of other people or even there own actions.

Me.