Drive Friendly

Drive Friendly

As someone who has lived in Texas for almost my entire life, I’d noticed that there was always a banner on the side of the roads that would read, “Drive Friendly – The Texas Way”. In Texas we are known for our unparalleled city sprawl and suburban communities, so the only feasible method of commuting is through cars. This along with everyone labeling our drivers as reckless isn’t very far off. I personally had experiences where I was 10 mph above the speed limit in the slow lane and had cars tailgating me.

In Texas it seems like we cannot go more than a week without a road rage incident making it in the news. My father personally went through some of the travesties that road rage caused. My father’s sister was still young and full of life when someone who should’ve not been driving rammed his car into my aunt. I was still young and unable to drive when my father went to attend her funeral. Due to the aforementioned incident, my parents were reluctant for me to get my license. Although driving was much needed in an area where I could only reach school or to my job with a vehicle, my parents instilled the discipline of drivers ed and to keep my emotions at check whenever I drive. When I finally obtained my license, it was clear on why my parents wanted to make sure I took drivers ed seriously and their persistence that I wouldn’t lose my cool while driving. Each time I went out driving there was always a case where there was a person rushing to get ahead but are frustrated. In every scenario where I had felt that there was injustice done to me on the road, I would count to ten and turn on the air conditioner at its max. If I couldn’t calm down, I would pull over and give myself reasons why it isn’t worth it. These are very simple solutions, but they were very effective to me and my friends. It is much more worth it in the end to calm down and yield then to become another statistic. After all, although road rage directly accounts for 218 deaths, almost 66% of recent traffic fatalities can be linked to aggressive driving.

There are many ways to reduce the number of deaths on the road, but many of these deaths could’ve been prevented with this saying, “Drive Friendly – The Texas Way”. This does not just apply to Texas, but nationwide and across the globe. If that person would’ve drove friendly on that day, my father wouldn’t have to book a plane ticket to Korea to attend a funeral. It goes to show that road rage affects a person’s ability to reason and make decisions. As blood pressure rises you will generally make more errors while driving. This is why drivers ed is important – as it not only teaches you the rules of the road, but to also prevent hurting yourself and others. It teaches other valuable lessons, and the dangers of aggressive driving. I will use these experiences to make myself a better driver, to always be observant to drive friendly.