Driving Safely

I have attended driving classes in the past and heard about the dangers of driving, but I did not think it pertained to me because I knew I was a safe driver. But recently I saw how dangerous driving can be. Over spring break 3 boys from my college campus were driving to Floridia when the driver had a diabetic episode and ran into the median of the road and then hit another car head on. One of the passengers passed and the other two students are in critical condition. Hearing about this tragedy put into perspective how easy it is for bad things to happen when driving and being in cars. According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel over 38,000 people die from car accidents each year. I believe that if more people attended driving school this number would be significantly less.

At the time I attended driving school I had just received my permit and was working towards getting my intermediate license. I remember hearing about basic road rules and ways to be safe while driving. When I first began driving alone, I looked back on the knowledge I acquired from these courses to help me understand road signs and what the lines meant on the road. Driving school helped me to understand how to drive in a general sense. I think that driving school could help reduce the number of driving related deaths if it focused on how to keep yourself and passengers safe. Helpful tips that I wish I had learned in driving school would be to make sure all your passengers have their seatbelts buckled, set your ac how you want it before you begin to drive, turn on the music you want before you drive, and if there has been ice to make sure you wait until it is gone before starting to drive. Small tips like these really help me to make sure I drive safely. I think it is also important to make sure you have what you need to drive safely like glasses. I have glasses for nighttime driving because I have a stigmatism in my eye. I must make sure that I keep my glasses in my car, especially if I know I will be driving in the dark.

I am very lucky and have never been in a car accident myself. Many of my family members have been in car accidents, my little sister has been in the most. She was riding home with our babysitter and a car hit the side of the vehicle and pushed the babysitter’s car into a telephone pole. Luckily both were okay and even though the car wasn’t savable we are lucky that the two girls were okay. I remember driving my sister after that and every time we were near that intersection she flinched. I have seen the effects of car accidents in her day-to-day life following the incident. I have also recently seen how car accidents do not just affect the people in the car but everyone around them. As I mentioned earlier, just this month 3 boys from my college were in a horrendous car accident. As soon as all the students came back to campus after spring break everyone was waiting for more news. Just any information on how the boys were doing and what condition they were in. There was a candlelight vigil for the student who lost his life in the car accident and many of the Greek organizations on campus began to make fundraisers for all three of the boy’s families. This tragedy put into perspective how easy it is for driving accidents to occur. When I am not driving but in the car with my friends, I make sure to always pay attention to the road and look out for surprises that may happen while someone else is driving. It is important for me to look out for things that the driver may not see like animals or cars behind them, I feel safer when I am also looking out at the road and not just the driver that way there is more than one person paying attention to what is going on surrounding the vehicle.

I believe that Driver’s education programs are extremely important in producing safe drivers. Even though driving school can seem tedious and boring at the end of the day it could be what saves someone’s life. I think in driving school it is important to educate on the importance of paying attention while driving and ensuring everyone in the car is buckled. Small things like buckling your seatbelt and turning your music on before you begin to drive could save a life. Even though I have never been in a car accident myself I know how dangerous they can be from experiences that people around me have gone through and from what I learned in driving school. I know that when I get behind the wheel it is important that I have the power to take someone’s life if I am not careful and that is what reminds me to be the safest driver I can be.