What if it was you?

Driver education is something that means a lot to me based on my personal experiences. There are many factors that go into this, but it begins with the fact that my parents raised me to drive safe, slow, and never go on my phone or be distracted while driving. They also emphasized that they would come and pick me up rather than me driving unsafely, regardless of the situation. The road is a dangerous place and there are many wreckless or angry drivers out there. People do not think about it often enough but driving is one of the most dangerous things you do daily. Your life could be changed or taken in a split second and you would never see it coming. I believe if we educate drivers from the start and drill this into people’s heads then we could save more lives. By educating, I not only mean knowing how to drive properly and look at speed limits or be aware of laws, but I also mean making new drivers realize the dangers of a car. I think drunk driving simulations or speakers coming into high schools to talk to the 15, 16, and 17 year olds can be extremely effective. I remember having this at my high school and it brought up a lot of emotions. A speaker came in and talked about how he took someone’s life when he was drinking and driving and how much regret he was filled with. It was eye opening for most of us. But, drinking and driving isn’t the only danger on the road. Danger also comes from not knowing how a 4 way stop sign intersection works, checking your phone, kids yelling in the back of the car, road rage incidents, a bad day at work taking over your thoughts, speeding on a back road, or not knowing what a sharp turn sign means. I truly believe if people realize how dangerous the road is it would change the way they drive. Drivers would be more alert and cautious. For most, driving is just another thing in their day and it is not paid much attention to. Also the longer you drive the less careful you may become. I think a good step towards bringing driver education awareness would be to bring these simulations and speakers into the workplace as well as have them in every school. Let people hear personal stories and think about what it would feel like if it happened to them or a loved one.

I have personally been in two car accidents, one major and one minor. The major accident was being hit by a drunk driver and the realization of how fast a life could be gone on the road. If I had not been driving safely I can’t say that I would have survived and I will always be grateful that I did. Since this accident I have had a lot of anxiety on the road and have become hyper aware of the drivers around me. In another accident I was the passenger and we got rear ended due to the driver that hit us not paying attention to the road or the fact that traffic had stopped for construction. You never know when you might be the victim of an accident or the distracted driver, we must get out of the mindset that “it isn’t going to happen to me”. Although being in these accidents affected me in some negative ways I am grateful to still be able to live my life and be aware of how myself and others are driving. It has made driving with others a bit harder because I notice when people are braking, I look behind us to make sure the car behind us is going to stop, I wait a little extra to make sure someone doesn’t run a stop sign, and the list goes on.

At the end of the day going over the speed limit to get there a minute earlier is not worth crashing into a median, checking what someone texted you is not worth hitting an innocent pedestrian, driving with your knees to show off to friends isn’t worth losing them, not wearing a seatbelt in an Uber isn’t worth flying out of the car in a collision and the list goes on. The moral of the story is to encourage your loved ones to fasten their seatbelt, not rush to their destination, call a ride when they drink, and wait to answer that text until they stop. I think we can make a difference just in the way that we interact with people. Something that was really impactful in my life was having a boss that told us to never speed. Even when he noticed that employees were late over and over he never mentioned it to them because it was so important to him that they got to work safely. No, you shouldn’t consistently show up to your job late, but this one action could have saved lives. If he had reacted in a different way they may have felt like they had to speed and things could have gone much differently. So, before you get upset at someone for being late, also take the time to be glad they made it safely too. Take time to think about what small action you could change to make the roads a little bit more safe for yourself and the people you love.