Name: Makayla Payne
From: Queen Creek, Arizona
Votes: 0
Becoming a Driver
Recently,
I became a new driver. My first moment on the road,as I sat in the
driver’s seat with my hands on the wheel with my hands on the
wheel, aided me in realizing that I’ve entered a new terrain. This
epiphany perplexed me as it was the same path that my parents have
driven in the past, just a new perspective. While driving, I noticed
the rhythm of the road, who went when who stopped, who turned when
who went straight, all the clear rules of the road that I never truly
paid attention to. Driving was a board game that I needed to know
every rule of because tragedies on the road have wrecked lives.
Entering
driving school was the least I could do to ensure that I would not
cause a deadly situation in that board game. My instructor guided me
through the basics of the road and rules that he reveals that not
many people follow. I was surprised to find out that when merging
into a lane, the driver in the lane that is merging in should put on
their indicator. Now, the surprise certainly didn’t arise from the
fact that it is a rule but more from the fact that I’ve never seen
anyone do it, unless there was road work near. I can imagine that
many young drivers believe that is the only time to turn on your
indicator when merging. Experiences drivers tend to to abide by rules
only when they deem it as necessary but for new drivers, that looks
like the law. Following experienced drivers can lead to new drivers
getting into accidents because they don’t have the kind of
discretion. This is why drivers ed is important; new
drivers may cause an accident by acting like an experienced driver.
During
my four lessons, I’ve learned the essentials that could help me
steer away from being in an accident and many started before the car
started. They started from the basics such as ensuring that all
passengers have their seat belts buckled to restrain the passenger’s
body in case of an accident. Further research showed that 14,955
lives were saved by passengers using seat belts in 2017 alone. He
also told me that, if at all possible, to refrain from when I feel
especially tired. This struck a chord with me as my mother and I met
in an accident on a fourway on a day where my mother was especially
tired from work. Knowing that these steps are merely the first of
many to take when driving a car made me attentive of the road.
With
a new sense of confidence and excitement, I left the driving school
with my license and a promise: to be the safest driver possible.
Sources
https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/defective-products/seat-belts/seat-belts-statistics.html
