Road Safety

Youth Forward Scholarship 2019

Name: Erice Proudfoot
From: Albuquerque, NM
Votes: 5102

The safety of our roads is an underrated and important issue that
needs to be addressed. All too well we are introduced to accidents,
tickets, and even deaths from vehicular cause. As the number of
accidents increases, we find that distractions and impaired driving
are the number one causes of reckless driving.

In modern days, the number one distraction on the road is the cell
phone. Whether someone is tweeting, snapchatting, texting, or just
checking an email, phones are constantly taking driver’s eyes off the
road. Apps now come with features that are made specifically when you
drive that intentionally distract the driver. These apps are Snapchat
and Maps. Snapchat has a feature that tells you your speed when you
turn on your location and tells your friends you are driving. Maps is
made specifically for when someone is driving so they know where to
go; it is a location finder. Although Maps has a voice feature, the
temptations to follow the lines and arrows on the screen can be too
much, causing eyes to wander from the road.

Laws are already in place as far as what is allowed on the roads.
People can’t be on their phone, speed, make illegal moves, drive
without lights, have headphones in, or have a pet on their lap in the
driver seat. These laws are all great but they are not working.
People still do all of these dangerous acts because they think they
are not going to crash. Some people fail to remember that a crash
doesn’t just affect you, it affects your friends, family, the other
victim, their friends, and their family. Therefore, the laws need to
be expanded. The tickets should be a higher price and the punishments
should be greater. More jail time and community service should be
added so people fear the idea of breaking the law.

How I can contribute to road safety is by encouraging my peers not to
break the law and giving my friends rides home from parties. I can
help stop the problem of drinking and driving by driving them
wherever they need to go to ensure they don’t hurt themselves or
anyone else. I also don’t text my friends or family whenever they
are driving because I don’t want to distract them. Whenever I am in
the car riding with someone, I will normally text for them or send
anything they need to be sent. It is the little ways of helping that
help a lot because I am saving my friends and family along with their
friends and family and the other people on the road.

Road safety is no joke. Driving is not a right, it is a privilege and
can be taken away easier than it can be given. Not everyone needs to
drive and not everyone should be allowed to drive. It takes maturity
and responsibility to drive. Road safety should be enforced and
encouraged globally and more seriously.