The Truth of Driving

“In the driver’s seat” - Scholarship Essay for DMVEdu - 500 Words

Round 2 Submission - May 1, 2020 - August 1, 2020

Carlos I. Miramon

A very major step in life is learning to travel in machinery capable of travelling at speeds capable of both transport, and wiping a person off the face of the Earth. Driving is a privilege that over 200 Million people share here in the United States (U.S DOT). And when someone is put in the driver’s seat, they are also placed with the responsibility of the lives of multiple people: Their own, their passengers, and those who share the road. Based on the Global Status report on Road Safety, by the World Health Organization in 2018 (WHO), about 1.35 Million deaths in the world, occurred by road accident. This seems rather marginal, but this number is larger than the death rate of smokers that same year. But we are still able to reduce this number to a thought of the past, where we learn from our accidents, for our future drivers.

A simple method to increase driver safety, is to educate them from the beginning. To create a drivers test that requires quick wit, and a more challenging process, rather than rewarding someone with a 2-ton machine when they show they can do a three-point turn, a hard brake, know how to park, how to turn at a light, how to put on a seatbelt, and how to park at an incline. And taking a short written test. These are the only requirements that one must go through to get their license. Further into the education of a driver, would be on account of the driver themself. As it is their responsibility to ensure they are familiar, and trust themselves to drive their vehicle safely. It can be as simple as adding aftermarket mirrors to a vehicle to increase the field of vision. And it truly is that easy, as those who rely on the reliance of their vehicle, also rely on themselves to drive safer, in order to protect not only themselves, but their method of transportation.

But safety does not rely simply on the maintenance of a car, it also relies on the maintenance of the person driving the car. For example, we would not trust a chronic drinker to get behind the wheel of a 2-ton hunk of machinery. Nor would we trust a blind person to do so either. It’s about ensuring that people can properly drive without handicaps that would endanger those around them. I have experienced others in grief over their friends or family being taken from them, due to the irresponsibility of another driver. And it’s disgusting to see those drivers, having their license in the first place. They have obviously, and most likely previously, shown their poor driving ethic. And this example shows how little regulation there is on the process of granting, and maintaining a driver’s license. To be in the driver’s seat, is to not only take care of yourself, but of others as well. Until we learn this, we can grieve over 1.35 million each year.

500 Words.

Bibliography:

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2018/dl201.cfm

(For the number of drivers in the United States alone, from 1949-2018.)

(For the number of drivers who were killed in 1 year; 2018)