My day started off normal. I just got home from school and was helping my little sister complete her homework. When all of a sudden my mom walks through the door a few hours before she was supposed to be home. When we asked why she was home so early she said she had received a call from my aunt and through her panic state I was able to understand that my uncle, who was a family friend had just been in a really bad car accident and that he sadly passed away. A week later my mother went to the junk yard where my uncle's car was sitting after the terrible accident to gather the rest of my uncle’s belongings because my aunt couldn’t bear to even look at the wreck that had taken her husband and her children’s father. Later that day I built up the courage to ask my mom what happened to my uncle and if she had any idea of what could have been the cause of the accident. She began to sit me down and explained to me how important it is not to drive under the influence and how important it is to be a safe driver. My uncle was driving under the influence and missed a yield sign and crashed into a truck.
We all know the very long lectures and presentations that we have to sit through at school that we tend to not pay attention to because we all have heard the same thing over and over again. “Driving under the influence is wrong”, or “be responsible”. But I can say from personal experience how insanely important it is to be safe while putting your life behind the wheel. You have no idea how much power one little mistake can alter the life of someone else and their loved ones. Everyone says it but not everyone truly understands that we only were given ONE life, and the mistakes that we make are the ones that we will have to live with for the rest of our lives.
Teenagers tend to not realize how life altering driving can be, you are not only in complete control of your life on the roads but now you have to think about your surroundings and other people around you. The main leading cause of car crashes is speeding. You may feel “cool” or like a “badass” while driving with your friends in your parents car and want to show off, but you have to realize that there is a whole world happening around you and that you have to be way more cautious and responsible. Here are some statistics on speeding and driving under the influence- 30% of traffic fatalities are caused by speeding, about 41 million speeding tickets are given each year, every 1/54 people are in a car crash, Just over 50% of drivers aged 21 to 24 reported having a BAC of 0.08% or more. So not only 1/54 people are getting into crashes but 50% of the ones caused by speeding were also under the influence.
Here are some ways for you to start looking into driving schools, their goal is to educate you in safe decision making, maternity, responsibility, and making sure that you have to have a clear mind while driving because when you don’t you become reckless. The most important thing while sitting behind the wheel is to make sure that you are 10000% sure that you are in the right state to drive, if you're not you risk not only yours but the lives around you. Absolutely no distractions, I know that everyone is glued to their phones and that every time you hear your phone buzzing you want to check and even skip the song when you're not feeling it but when you take your eyes off the road for a second you lose control over your surroundings. When you are under the influence call an uber or have someone not under the influence drive you home. Don’t ever put yourself at risk by getting in the car with someone under the influence.
Please don’t be the reason that someone loses their loved one to unsafe driving. When you are on the road be cautious and remember that it's not just your life at risk if you are unsafe but everyone around you. Driving can be fun but only when you do it responsibly and safely. Stay safe and well. And most importantly remember being able to drive isn’t a right it is a privilege.