Becoming a Safe Driver

Taking drivers education teaches many students the importance of safe driving. Many people get their license but still do not know basic safety procedures when it comes to being behind the wheel. Many people die daily because of accidents. Cars may lose control or have malfunctions. It is important to know how to control the vehicle in those situations. Both of my parents are police officers. I have heard numerous stories of death in car accidents from them. One story that really stuck out for me and everyone needs to be more aware about is texting and driving. My mom worked an accident where a young girl was texting and driving and accidentally ran into a semi truck carrying a load of logs. All of the logs went through her car, killing her on impact. Many young adults text and drive today. It is one of the most dangerous things to do while behind the wheel. It is also the cause of many accidents today. There would be a significant decrease in car accident deaths if people would just put their phone down.

Having basic knowledge will help reduce the deaths in car accidents. Schools should make drivers ed a required class instead of having it as an option. Students need to be able to practice what to do in certain situations. Schools should have simulators to practice the accidents carefully and safely. Another thing that can reduce the amount of deaths is being more aware. A simple mistake can take away your life or the life of another. People need to pay more attention to the road. Limiting the distraction while driving will save tons of lives. Addition to that, people need to be patient when driving. Whether it is slowing down speed on busy roads or weather not made for driving. People speed everyday to get to places faster. Speeding kills more than you know. Some wake up late for work and hurry down the road causing an accident and possibly taking a life due to high speeds. Be patient and slow down. Being the cause of another person’s death is way more important than being late for work. Also, driving in immaculate weather is also very dangerous and people need to be more aware. Heavy rain makes it hard to see, icy roads lead to loss of control, heat advisories can cause an engine to overheat and become inoperable. Young or new drivers need to be more aware of the outside before getting behind the wheel and being clueless on what to do in weather situations.

March of 2022, I was driving home from work when I was struck by another car. I was driving the speed limit and just pulled out of the parking lot when I went through a green light and another car ran a red light striking the front end of my car. It was a scary situation. All of my airbags deployed and I had no control over my car. My car continued to roll through the traffic. I was in shock. I threw my car in park and sat in my car breathing all the airbag dust. The other car kept driving about a mile till they were stopped by a nearby police officer. I got out of the car and saw all the damage. I was angry. The driver of the other vehicle was a 16 year old driver. The driver was not paying attention when they went through the light. A second later and I could have lost my life due to not being aware of a busy intersection.

When driving, I learned from my wreck to be more aware of other drivers. I must be cautious when driving through intersections. 94% of wrecks come from a human fault of another driver. Not every wreck is your fault but it could cost you your life. Laws should be places to make it where drivers are more aware of what they are doing. Putting down phones should be enforced more and be a higher price ticket so people will learn more not to have it out. Keeping others safe in a car is important. People need to learn from their mistakes and learn from others. Stories from car accident deaths changed my viewpoint on my driving, hopefully it will change other peoples. No one truly understands the trouble of a car accident death till it affects them somehow. Being safe on the road is important for everyone to understand and practice.