The rules of the road

DeShawn Carter

The
Rules of The Road

I
have personally been in a car accident my freshman year of high
school. The car hit me in a parking lot and scraped the muscle off
from my big toe. I was very fortunate enough to be able to play
sports again after a year of healing but that event left me with a
greater awareness of the dangers of driving. It was only when I began
learning to drive myself where I really focused on the advice and
lessons given to me by my family.

The
normal practices for safe driving demonstrates defensive driving
skills as “driving to save lives, time, and money, in spite of
the conditions around you and the actions of others.” It is a
form of training that sticks in your head the more it is repeated
over and over. Its aim is to reduce the risk of collision by
anticipating dangerous situations, despite adverse conditions or the
mistakes of others. This can be achieved through the understanding of
a variety of general guidelines, such as following the assured clear
distance ahead and two second rules, as well as the practice of
specific driving techniques. Controlling your speed is a vital part
in road safety. A person’s speed can play a huge role in determining
their reaction speed on the road. Going too fast or too slow are
dangerous while driving. Another advice for all drivers to know is
looking ahead and expecting the unexpected. I have been taught to
scan the road ahead of you to predict where you will be in the next
5-10 seconds. This will create a habit of scanning your area and
being cautious with everything around you. Lastly, being alert and
distraction free is a must when getting on the road. Distractions
consist of anything that can get your mind off of driving. By
focusing on driving and nothing else you can make the road a lot
safer.

Now
what I would personally do to invoke the dangers of drinking and
driving is instead of constantly showing the amount of accidents
around the world due to drivers not following important driving
principals I would instead start having these rules played on the
media. It could be similar to a type of slogan or on posters in
public schools. What we must do is get these safe driving principles
in the heads of children. At early ages children are like sponges so
they soak up a lot of information so if I am able to send this
message to them via poster, social media, or the radio I know these
safe driving principals will stay with them. Right now the exposure
on safe driving is targeted to people who already are on the road but
if we start focusing our attention on the younger kids we can start
creating little habits in them that will eventually lead to safer
streets around the world.