You Can Go 15 Over

“Why
are you going so slow? I drive 10 over the limit and I’m fine.”
“Go 15 above, the police won’t care.” No matter who I am
driving with, I will always hear complaints about how I am driving.
But even I am guilty of doing this, so I just keep my mouth shut and
keep driving. However, one car accident completely changed my view on
the laws of the road.

Imagine
playing a game where someone is thrown into a new environment with
hundreds of new players, and the player does not even know any of the
rules. The player would be at a complete loss and would get in the
way of the other players. This could be very annoying and even
dangerous to everyone else, depending on the situation. However, the
player can get lucky and do well in the beginning. But sooner or
later, the player will make a mistake because they did not know the
rules and reach a screen that says “game over.” What I described
is someone who does not have any drivers ed. Except one minor
difference, there is no “continue” screen if the driver gets in a
fatal accident. Without knowing the rules, a driver has a higher
chance of making mistakes that can vary from a minor dent, to a life
being taken away. Because of this, having even the tiniest bit of
drivers ed could save someone’s life and lower the amount of
accidents in the world.

However,
just knowing the rules won’t stop more deaths from occurring.
People also need to know how seriously these rules need to be taken.
The biggest one is distracted driving. As an engineering project, my
group has found that distracted driving related accidents have
increased exponentially over the years and the main cause are cell
phones. By texting while driving, the driver is taking away their
attention from the road. This means that the driver will not be ready
for anything that is coming their way, whether it is a car or a deer.
This sends the message that sending a laughing emoji to someone is
more important than a life. So by ensuring that all citizens know how
important it is to not text while driving, I believe that there will
be less deaths on the road, especially of those who we care about.

One
of my best friends died in a car accident this year. He was one of
the most popular kids at school and was an amazing student. However,
as he was crossing the centerline, a car crashed straight into him.
In one second, I lost someone very close to me and I did not even
realize until the next day. This completely changed the way I thought
about driving, and on a bigger scale, what I was doing with my life.
Was he an irresponsible driver? No, he always drove responsibly and
never looked at his phone. Was the other person an irresponsible
driver? No, it was just one mistake. However, this shows the dangers
of driving and that even someone who is doing everything correctly
can still get in an accident.

To
become a better driver myself, I will become a defensive and patient
driver. I will be more obvious with my actions and get the attention
of those around me through signals and motions. Hopefully those
around me will do the same, allowing a safer environment for those on
the road.