Everyone’s Safety Is Controlled By Your Steering Wheel

Caleb
Watson

DmvEdu.org
Scholarship Essay

Everyone’s
Safety Is Controlled By Your Steering Wheel

Nothing
represents freedom more to a kid than getting to drive. The milestone
of your 16th birthday is a tremendous change simply for this reason.
And along with all the joy and excitement of driving permits, most
kids don’t
seem to understand the risks associated with it until it’s too
late. In fact, US statisticians have said that you’re 19 times more
likely to die in a car accident than on a commercial airline. A car
is heavy machinery, and every decision is essential in deciding if
you and the people around you live or die.

While
drivers ed has become a compulsory class with thorough
requirements, it seems to me that it isn’t
strict enough. The main basis for this view is the fact that after
passing drivers ed, the majority of people consciously give in
to bad driving habits that continually evolve into complacency in bad
driving habits. This is incontrovertibly dangerous to the world and
all the people around these drivers. These habits, not limited to
speeding, ruling stops, and not checking blindspots before merging,
are few of many habits that the majority of common drivers engage
that cause the road to be exponentially more dangerous. This is why
drivers ed is so vital in reducing the number of deaths as a
result of driving because even with it, there will still be people
who are irresponsible and reckless. The point of drivers ed is
to make sure that people can know as much as they can about how to
drive safely so that most of them will become safe drivers
themselves, and these safe drivers will know how to stay safe in the
midst of those who aren’t.

I
have had a personal experience in a car accident where the man who
hit my car was driving irresponsibly. With a red light ahead as I
slowly merged into a turn lane, the man, well over the speed limit,
cut me off after crossing the double yellow lines causing the sides
of our cars to hit. At the reckless speed he was traveling, I didn’t
know he was coming until it was too late. As his car’s momentum
carried him forward well up the road, I safely stopped and looked to
my younger brother sitting shocked, but thankfully, safe, in the
passenger seat. At that moment as the operator of my vehicle, my
life, as well as my younger brother’s life, was in my hands. That
reckless driver, as the operator of his vehicle, has put all our
lives in danger for what? To save a few seconds speeding and cutting
between lanes?

His
control was unpredictable and reckless, so I had no reason to expect
such a collision to occur at that moment. I couldn’t
have done anything about it, and most people couldn’t have either.
In order for me to be a better and safer driver as well as help
others become safer on the road, I will take the steps they thought
me in drivers ed to make sure I drive safely. I can only
control my self, so I must trust everyone else to drive safe as well.
I learned this from that incident if he had taken this philosophy,
the collision wouldn’t have happened. By driving safe, I can help
everyone else to drive safe as well by not being a threat beyond
their control. This means following the rules of the road, properly
yielding and stopping, and knowing my surroundings before I make
maneuvers.

There
are many steps
that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving,
but the only way that these steps can be taken is if an individual
decides to take them. This means not becoming complacent with
breaking the rules of the road and actually being attentive in all
the actions and decisions relating to driving. This is the reason
drivers ed is so important is because every single driver
needs to be educated enough to understand why they have to be
responsible for the safety of everyone on the road through the result
of their own actions. I took drivers ed, passed the class, and
passed the test, but this truth didn’t become evident to me to the
full extent until the collision with the reckless driver. No one was
hurt in that incident, but it opened my eyes to the true
responsibility that driving represents. I’ll never forget that
feeling of my heart racing as my brother and I sat in the car looking
at each other as I realized how dangerous the road can be. This is
what drivers ed needs to convey to students. Every individual
driver must realize that they have a responsibility for everyone
around them and understanding this is the only way that you can take
proper steps toward being a safe driver.