Name: Catania Ayala
From: Mill Valley, California
Votes: 0
Many people,
especially those my age, think they are invincible. You hear
confident people say, “Oh, that would never happen to me!” or
“I’m a good driver, crazy accidents only happen if you are being
stupid….” However, life doesn’t work that way and it will throw
obstacles at you even when you think you don’t deserve it. In terms
of driving, accidents occur everyday, and even to skilled and
experienced drivers. The more you drive a car, the more skilled you
become, but the greater the chance that you will have an accident.
When you add other factors into play like texting, Snapchatting,
changing your music playlist, etc. probability trumps ability.
Learning how to drive is an exciting part of being a teenager,
however many teens are blinded to the fact that getting in accident
is very likely as a new driver.
I was different in that the idea of driving seemed daunting and
dangerous to me. As a kid, I witnessed a major accident as we were
walking out a coffee shop in San Francisco. I remember the horrible
noise of tires screeching, the sound of impact from the speeding car
ramming into the other, the gasps, the ambulances, the stretchers
carrying the people into the ambulance, and the panicked energy
around me. I carried that same nervous energy when I first sat on the
driver’s seat, going on my first test drive with my dad.
As
I learned more about driving, and took courses like TeenSmart my
confidence behind the wheel increased. I began to realize how the
phrase “knowledge is power” could be applied even to something
like driving. People can’t prevent themselves from ever getting
into an accident, but they can build a set of tools to help minimize
the probability of getting into one. Teaching drivers, at any stage
in their driving lives, how to lower the probabilities of getting
into an accident can help not only the individual from getting into a
fatal crash, but keep others safe on the road as well. Law
enforcement can only do so much to prevent reckless driving; I
believe that changing and educating the minds of drivers in a more
profound way will be the best way to lower the likelihood of an
incident. Having more steps to take in order to get a license, like
having more rigorous DMV tests for drivers to earn their license,
could be good place to start. Even adding a driving course to schools
(like in my mother’s high school days) could be a beneficial way to
promote more awareness of safe driving and encourage safer driving.
Driving
is an important means of transportation, but one that can be
dangerous. However the more people are educated on road safety, the
more normal it will become to see safe drivers on the road–meaning
we will lessen everyone’s probability of getting into an accident.
