We Have the Power to Save Lives, or to Ruin Them

Driving is not something to be taken lightly. When you drive a car, you are responsible for your own life, the lives of the people in your car, and the lives of others on the road. There are far too many lives lost due to traffic accidents, averaging 34,000 deaths each year and teenagers account for about 7% of these. These deaths could be dramatically reduced by simply taking a driver’s education course prior to getting your license. A study done by the University of Nebraska showed that young drivers who have not completed a driver’s education course are 24% more likely to be involved in a fatal accident. This proves the effectiveness of driver’s education, and its not hard to understand why. Being more educated in anything will help you be better at it, so obviously the same goes for driving. I really believe that making driver’s education mandatory for all drivers, as well as requiring that they do a refresher course when they renew their license, will help reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Simply making people more aware of safe driving habits will help make the roads safer. It is easy for driving to become a habit, and people tend to develop bad habits when it comes to driving. For example, I know that I have a really bad habit of speeding, especially when I’m running late somewhere, and I know that I’m not alone in this. A survey done by the Daily Mail showed that 1 in 3 teenage drivers admit to speeding. This number is far too high and is very concerning considering that speeding greatly increases the risk of getting in a crash that results in injury or death. And speeding isn’t the worst bad habit that people develop. Phone usage, not wearing a seatbelt, and distracted or impaired driving are all habits that people develop that can have very serious consequences. Reminding people of these consequences through driver’s education is a much better way for them to learn than them learning the hard way when they lose their own life or the life of someone they care about. When I was a sophomore in high school, I lost a friend in a car accident. We never officially found out what caused the crash, but it is likely that she was on the phone with someone and got distracted for long enough to drift over the center line and get hit head on. Losing her was extremely painful and I hope I never have to go through that ever again, which is why I am passionate about making driver’s education mandatory and encouraging safe driving in myself and the people around me. I have always tried to practice safe driving, but from now on, I will focusing on breaking my habit of speeding and make sure that whenever I drive, I am focused on the road and not distracted by anything. I will also encourage my friends to be safer drivers. If I am in the car with someone and see them practicing unsafe habits, like texting while driving, not wearing a seatbelt, or speeding, I will remind them that their actions could have very serious consequences. I hope that doing so will prevent any more of my friends being involved in an accident, especially a fatal one. After all, driving is a privilege, not a right.