It’s Time for Action

That
Tuesday night is all too vivid. It was incredibly foggy; I was on my
way home from a Wallows concert. That’s when I received a text from
my friend, asking if the rumors were true about a student from my
high school passing away in a car accident that night. I immediately
dismissed this terrifying question as mere gossip, but when I began
noticing a couple Instagram stories with messages like “rest easy”
and “I love you” directed at my friend Ryan, I slowly connected
the miserable dots. 

It
didn’t make sense that such a kind person would lose their life at
only seventeen. We’d always talk about our futures – colleges,
careers, and all – with giddy optimism. In a blink of an eye, that
beautiful future transformed into a small plot of cemetery land, I
thought with bitterness. But after witnessing the magnitude of those
touched by Ryan throughout the next few weeks, I realized that his
future could exist in another form. Although the cause of the
accident was never released, he had crossed the centerline of a local
road, causing a two-car collision, so I hoped this tragedy could be a
wake-up call to every driver. Ryan’s death could not be in vain.

Thus,
it was horrifying to see some of his closest friends still driving
twenty over the limit on residential roads and searching for a song
on Spotify during straightaways. Clearly, young drivers don’t have
a proper grasp of what it means to drive a vehicle, a feat driver
education has the potential of achieving. However, the monotonous
lessons on the various types of road signs, albeit important, often
are futile in encouraging safe driving practice. 

This
drivers ed must be supplemented by parents exemplifying and
teaching safe driving to their children from a young age. But, to
stimulate more ensured results, school systems should intersperse
assertions on the cruciality of safe driving in health courses from
elementary school through high school. After a student receives their
permit, they should place a message in their car to be read every
time they start the engine, stating that a vehicle isn’t a toy;
it’s heavy machinery that can destroy lives and ruin futures. 

Personally,
I’ll be taking a more active role in creating safer roads. If I
have to be the guy telling my friends to slow down or get off their
phones, I will. I hope to have a lasting impact on my friends’ and
family’s safe driving by encouraging them to keep their phones on
“Do Not Disturb While Driving.” I’ll also continue to work at
becoming a safer driver by avoiding distractions, like changing radio
stations, and maintaining full awareness of my surroundings.

We
can’t bring back Ryan and the tens of thousands lost every year
from driving accidents. However, if we take these simple measures,
and school systems and families provide a better safe driving
foundation, countless more people will be able to experience their
futures.