A Bump in the Road

Each
year, nearly 1.25 million people die from car accidents. Many read
the statistic but they say, ”It won’t happen to me, I’ll be ok.”
It is so important to understand that one crash affects so many
people. It takes an emotional toll on them. The saddest part is that
it could have been prevented. Drivers ed can help people
understand that accidents don’t only happen when someone is under
the influence. It can happen by distracted driving, speeding, and or
even reckless driving. It can also provide you with the knowledge and
attitudes needed for driving.

A
great way to help reduce the number of deaths is to have each high
school offer the Students Against Destructive Decisions. It would
also be a good idea for each county to offer this program where kids
can sign up for it. At my high school, I was blessed to be apart of
the SADD club and experience the process of what happens when someone
gets in a car crash. We got to experience the crash scene, a jail, a
court hearing, and a morgue. It was definitely an eye-opening
experience and very emotional. Although I see myself as a safe driver
in taking the precautions when needed, seeing everything made me have
a different perspective when driving. A majority of crashes happen to
young adults, which I believe is due to the mentality of teenagers.
They believe they are invincible and that it would never happen to
them.

I
have never been in a car accident but I have been in cars were the
driver was driving irresponsibly. One incident was when an old high
school friend was driving us to the Orange County fair. She realized
she was about to miss the exit so she swerved into the exit lane. She
went through 2 lanes and cut a car off. Although no one crashed it
was still a very scary experience.

Some
steps that I’m taking to be a better driver is learning from other
peoples experiences and learning to become even more of a defensive
driver. I’ve also turned on my ‘do not disturb’ on my phone,
which causes no notifications to pop on my screen while I’m
driving.