The Road to Being a Safe Driver

Chelsea
Lauricio

May
2, 2020

Scholarship
Essay

The
Road to Being a Safe Driver

As someone who loves to travel
a lot with family, there have been a good number of car accidents I
have seen and a great number of stories I have heard of second-hand
regarding car incidents. However, there is one that vividly comes to
my mind whenever I think of the words “death as a result of
driving.”

At the time, I was a sophomore
in high school. My family and I were on winter vacation when we
decided to drive to Los Angeles for a little ‘winter fun’ and
visit a few family members we have up South. I remember it raining
that day, and as you probably know, some people love to drive fast on
the freeway when the road is wet and in certain weather conditions,
we are far more prone to get into accidents this way. I have seen car
crashes happen before, but this one was on a whole other level. The
amount of people that were in gurneys, the amount of blood you could
see on the floor, the obliterated cars, you start to wonder “how
did this happen?” I wasn’t able to comprehend what I saw in that
exact moment, but I began to reflect on how important it is to take
responsibility while driving.

Generally speaking, being
educated in knowing the rules and how to be in control of yourself is
a significant factor when first learning how to drive. Speed limits,
road signs, pedestrians, personal conflicts and emotions, bikers,
other driver’s, etc. are all people and things that need to be
taken into consideration while being behind the wheel. As speed and
road signs keep you aware of how you need to drive, personal feelings
and emotions are also two important factors as they may conflict with
your driving and reaction time. When you first learn to drive, your
sense of spatial awareness becomes more defined.

Being younger than the age of
18 with a driver’s license was something I had always dreamed of, and
this dream of mine came true when I had just turned 16. The same year
I had experienced multiple deaths on the road, me being extra
cautious of the way I drive is something I find extremely important.
Many people take advantage of having a driver’s license, and those
are the people I learn from.