What We Can Do

Drivers ed teaches you the importance of being safe behind the
wheel by not texting and driving, or even drinking and driving.
According to the National Safety Council, in 2019 an estimated 38,800
people lost their lives to car crashes, that's a 2% decline from
2018. Drivers ed is important because as a country we can work
together to decrease the number of deaths by keeping the roads safe.

Steps
that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths is enforcing a law
that drivers ed should be in high schools for free and
students have to take it before they get their license. We could also
have stricter laws on phones behind the wheel. The United States
Department of Transportation reported “cell phones are involved in
a whopping 1.6 million auto crashes each year”. If we decrease the
amount of phone usage behind the wheel we could decrease that number
by thousands.

When
I was a 6th grader my best friend got into a car crash because
someone driving wasn’t paying attention and swerved to the other
side. She lost her life at 11 because of reckless driving. Her name
was Megan and she wanted to be a vet when she got older. She had so
many dreams but as quick as a glance away from the road her life was
snatched from her. Someone wasn’t paying attention and drove the
car on the opposite side of the road. During that whole funeral all I
could think to myself is I will always spread awareness of trying to
become the best driver I can be.

There
are many things I can do today to be a safer driver. I can put my
phone on Do Not Disturb and put it away unless it's needed. And if
it's needed I will pull over and then use my phone. Another thing I
can do is if i’m getting tired or dizzy from driving I can pull
over and take a quick nap until the feeling goes away. There are many
other things I can do but those will make a huge difference if all of
us make rules for the road. If we try to make the roads safer as a
whole we can continue decreasing the deaths on the road.