Name: Cara Clough
From: Rockwall, Texas
Votes: 0
Cara
Clough
In
the Driver’s Seat
Each
year, 34,000 lives are lost due to driving. This is a scary number,
considering that any of those thirty-four thousand lives could easily
be any of us or one of our loved ones. This means we risk our lives
every time we enter a car and yet cars are so very essential to one’s
everyday life. Instead of accepting the risk, let us come together
and eliminate the risk. This starts with driver safety and education.
It is very important to educate oneself in order to reduce the number
of deaths because ignorance and irresponsibility has a lot to do with
these fatalities.
There
are many factors that go into safe driving, but I want to highlight
two in particular. The first is putting the phone away. The
distraction of a phone combined with driving is a fatal mix. How many
times have you accidently not noticed a red light and had to slam on
your brakes? Or maybe while changing lanes on a busy highway you have
not seen the car in your blind spot? Everyone experiences close calls
like this while they drive, but because of attentiveness they can be
easily corrected and any trouble is avoided. Now add the phone into
the equation of those situations. More than likely, that close
encounter turns into a wreck, totaled car and possible death.
On
the topic of distractions, the other step I want to focus on is
planning ahead. Everyone is guilty of being late every once and
awhile, and for some this may be a common occurrence. Maybe from
sleeping through an alarm or taking too long to get ready. Whatever
the reason may be, running late can cause rushing which in result
causes speeding on the road and distracted driving. To combat this
one should simply identify the factors that make them late and take
the initiative of fixing it.
I
have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the loss of a
very close friend as a result of the driver going too fast around a
turn. My heart hurts even more for his family, because I know if I
think about him everyday they must think about him every minute. It
is the worst kind of tragedy because you are not able to say goodbye
to the person. They are just here one second and gone the next. This
loss does not just hurt the life, it hurts everyone around it and
that is why it is so important to be safe while driving.
I
can definitely start being more attentive on the road. Making sure my
phone is put away and that I am constantly checking my mirrors and
blind spots. I am very guilty of being late and it is so tempting to
speed in those moments, but I can choose not to. I can encourage
others to do the same, especially when I am in the car with another
driver. I implore you to ask yourself what your life and your loved
ones’ lives are worth to you. I personally believe they are worth
way more than the small sacrifices you can make to become a safer
driver.
