Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow

One moment you’re in your lane and driving at a safe speed, you take one second to look at your phone or change the radio station and the next minute you look up it’s too late. In 2020, a total of 35,766 fatal car accidents occurred on roadways across the United States and another 1,593,390 crashes resulted in injuries (Forbes Magazine 2023). The point is that no matter what age you are at risk of a car accident anytime you are operating a vehicle and because of this, it’s your responsibility to learn the laws of the road and make sure to follow them to avoid others or you getting hurt. Car accidents can be frightening, traumatic, and can sometimes leave permanent damage which is why I want to put an emphasis on how critical it is to abide by the rules of the road.

Personally, I have had some traumatic experiences such as my mother who has been in three car accidents in the past 8 years none of them which were her fault, friends I have been present in the car with who drive carelessly, and when I was younger a car that ran into my father and I. Many times, you may be driving responsibly and someone who is not could possibly end up causing you to have an accident which is why we all must make the effort to spread the word about safe driving whether it be through videos on social media or a simple message online attaching it with facts and articles so individuals could see what goes on every day and use that knowledge to apply it on the road. Unfortunately, not many drivers keep up with local laws for example moving to a new state and not doing sufficient research on what laws may be different in your new location to avoid misunderstandings or dangerous mistakes.

There are many efforts us as a society can make in order to drive better and be safer on the road such as staying off our phones to avoid distractions, stopping at yellow lights in order to avoid taking a red light where there is a possibility of hurting someone, being alert! don’t drive while under the influence of alcohol or even while being sleepy and unrested, and be kind let others switch lanes and merge when needed using turning signals so others know where you plan to go. There’s a lot of things us as drivers can do other than knowing the laws because although that is the biggest way to avoid issues there are many situations that drivers may run into where they don’t know what to do. Another great thing to do is if you see something, say something for example a truck driver falling asleep at the wheel while driving at dangerous speeds, It is always good to get the police involved if you believe someone’s reckless driving can cause a fatality. Even with friends and family, there have been situation where I have had to tell my friends to slow down or stop switching lanes to skip vehicles because although they may not think anything is wrong those are things that can cause a horrific accident.

The ability to use critical thinking skills, reasoning and combining that with your driver’s education could be the small difference between life and death. It may sound harsh when other criticize you’re driving, or you may get offended when they question, you’re driving but, in the end, listening to that as constructive criticism and using that to improve your skills could possibly save your life in the long run. When you think of reckless drivers you may think of the younger generation but sometimes it’s not that simple, there are so many people on the road nowadays even unlicensed drivers or drivers whose vision changed and cannot see as well as they used to causing a risk to others on the road but regardless of all the other drivers around you always make sure you are staying alert so if something does happen you have the chance to control the outcome of that situation.

Aside from driver safety another thing that is not taken to consideration is pedestrian safety which is responsibility of everyone on the road. Breaking the law not stopping for pedestrians or running out of patience and not waiting for bicycles and sharing the road are other reckless actions that can be life threatening to anyone on the road. In the first half of 2021 over 2,957 pedestrian fatalities were reported in the U.S (Highway Safety Association 2021). Let’s make the road a better place for everyone Drivers of cars, motorcycles, bicycles, buses, and pedestrians included and let’s stay informed and be kind and share the road to keep everyone safe. Each day billions of people in the U.S use transportation to get to their destinations driving is everyone’s responsibility there’s one road and were all part of it lets continue to spread the word.