Good Habits: Driving Sensibly

Driver’s education is one’s basis of reasoning for safely approaching situations when driving. As driver’s education encourages defensive driving, this becomes one’s primary approach to driving and encourages them to look for any signs of danger at any given moment. As part of defensive driving involves looking ahead of your surroundings for incoming danger, it allows one to prepare ahead of time for a safe reaction against any obstacles. In addition to driver’s education encouraging one to maintain a car’s size worth of space between vehicles, it also helps one approach driving safely as it gives them sufficient time to safely respond in case of a sudden stop. Similarly, maintaining a big distance between cars can be a good habit to have in case another car happens to tailgate one, which puts one at a greater risk of collision as a sudden stop may make said tailgater collide into one and the force can propel one’s own car forward. In short, driver’s education is beneficial for reducing the number of deaths as it can better prepare one for perilous situations on the road by equipping them with the skills necessary to avoid them.

Good habits take time to build and the same is true in the case of becoming a more safe driver to reduce accidents. Distracted driving is a growing issue as, according to Forbes, about 30,000 accidents a year happen as a result and about 350 fatal accidents occur from texting while driving. A good habit one can develop is that of texting before driving. Before driving, one should consider texts to send: ask that question or text that gossip. This allows one to clear their mind of things to send and can make them less likely to send a text as they drive. One should also consider silencing their phone while driving to entirely remove the temptation from picking up the phone at the sound of a notification. Drive sensibly– that 3 second glance makes you 23 times more likely to crash, according to Digital Responsibility. This statistic underlines how dangerous texting while driving is. Lastly, one should practice patience and consider whether reading that text is worth risking their and others’ safety– if it cannot wait, one should pull over to the shoulder to send the text. Given these points, reducing collisions is rooted in being conscious of and for others on the road.

I have fortunately never been in a car accident myself but I have seen relatives drive irresponsibly. I have relatives who are guilty of distracted driving which has led to them having many close calls in the form of near collisions due to falling to notice a sudden stop, driving too close to the car in front of them, and missing GPS directions. These bad habits have led to awkward tensions in the car and strained the relationships my relatives have with one another as they lose trust in putting their safety in the hands of others due to such bad experiences. As such, an argument precedes the discussion of who is going to drive as they want to choose the more responsible driver but they have all had moments of irresponsibility. I do wish they would be more considerate of those in their car and not take such unnecessary risks in favor of ensuring one’s safety over a digital message that could honestly wait for a response later.

I can become a better driver by not being a distracted driver through silencing my phone, sending any urgent messages needed before I begin driving, and realize that the risk of collision for a digital message is not worth the potential cost. I can also practice patience in not only waiting to reply to a text but also waiting for my turn on the road when it comes to yellow lights or stop signs as rushing them increases the chance of collision due to reduced awareness for incoming traffic. Another good practice is familiarizing myself better with the route my GPS will take me. To explain, by being more familiar with the route, I can know what turns or exits to take ahead of time so I do not have to constantly look at the directions. This will reduce the chances of me missing an important detail about traffic and potentially help me better avoid collisions. These are good habits to practice when driving as they focus on defensive driving as one is more conscious of others on the road rather than being distracted from the ever-changing traffic conditions.