Advice to Action: Saving Your Life Saves Others Lives

Mame Diarra N’daw

September 23, 2021

Advice to Action: Saving Your Life Saves Others Lives

One of the most anticipated moments in a teenager’s life is receiving their drivers’ license. The feeling of finally being able to venture out on your own and experience the real world is very important in many teenagers’ minds, however, it mustn’t be forgotten that safety remains the top priority before entering that driver’s seat. Driver education is crucial in reducing the number of deaths due to the fact that it can heighten people’s desire to increase the legal driving age. This increase could potentially cause hindrances in a teenager’s daily life if they are no longer allowed to transport themselves, especially when parents and other relatives are too busy, or working leaving the teen without transportation. Oftentimes, teens forget that their carelessness will have consequences that will not only affect them but a majority of the population if it is ruled that the legal driving age, for example, must be increased due to teenage reckless driving. In spite of the fact that this is a critical concern, it must be remembered that teenagers need to learn how to take care of themselves and become independent adults; driving includes that. With this in mind, safety must be emphasized to a greater extent for teen drivers in order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving and steps must be taken so words and advice can turn into action and not only save your own life by being careful but other’s lives as well.

As said above, driving is an important part of a teenagers’ life and in order for it to remain, steps must be taken to ensure that people can enter a car and drive without worrying about getting into a car accident. A method that can be taken to ensure driver safety is having driver’s education courses at high schools readily available to students aged 15-18. Although not all schools have the funds to do so, they can partner up and allow some students to visit the campus for the driver’s education courses after school. When schools provide professionals to teach teens how to drive it not only reduces the likelihood of the teen being taught by an amateur driver but also makes them take the class more seriously. When they know that their grade and life are on the line if they don’t pay attention and make a fatal mistake on the road that could have been prevented, they are more likely to take time to study and benefit from the driving course. Also, driver education courses teach students about the importance of driving safely because if anything wrong is done a point will be added to their record which can cause major difficulties later in life. Teens will learn that applying for insurance will be difficult if someone has accumulated points on their record because they have lost their credibility, so insurance companies are practically taking a gamble if they include this person in their service. In addition to this, it is important to note that, driver’s education courses assist and improve a person’s driving skills within a couple of months to a year depending on how frequently they practice and if they have a car to practice with. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 62% of Americans took a driver’s education course as of 2007. That percentage may seem small, but it shouldn’t be overlooked because if that 62% drives safely, it reduces the chances of millions of people possibly being crashed into. Although not everyone is able to take driver’s education courses, the work of a few can have a big influence and benefit the whole.

Another method to reduce the number of fatalities as a result of driving is to set a time limit on how many months a teen can drive with other teen passengers after they have gotten their license. This is often overlooked, but one of the main causes of motor vehicle crashes as reported by the CDC is “the presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers” which increases more when the number of teenage passengers increases. When driving with friends or people of the same age group, people tend to do things to make them seem cooler or “fit in.” This can be seen when teens who normally wear seat belts will skip out on wearing them when carpooling with friends who don’t wear seat belts. Although that is the right thing to do and will ensure one’s safety, it’s not uncommon for teens to be peer pressured into doing more dangerous tasks for the fun of it, especially when driving.

In my own experience, I have been in a car accident on a busy street during rush hour. My mother was driving and came to a sudden stop because the car in front of her stopped suddenly, but the person behind our car didn’t stop in time and hit us from behind. It definitely is something that I will never forget because it was scary and an experience I don’t want anyone to go through; thankfully no one got hurt because we were all wearing seat belts. It happened all of a sudden, with us jolting forward yet being held back by our seatbelts as my mother steps on the brake to prevent the force of our car from being hit behind causing it to hit the person in front of us. This moment left the car filled with the sound of our shaky exhales and gasps over the slight rumble of the engine as we all made sure everyone was okay. This experience alone should be a warning to those who don’t take driving seriously and would rather let their minds wander as they cruise on the streets with the wind softly caressing their face instead of driving attentively and allowing themselves to reach their destination and back safely.

Regarding ways I stay safe when driving, I have only driven three times before with my permit due to finances and transportation difficulties. However, every time I did practice I made sure to go with a parent because they both have their drivers license for years and are suitable mentally, physically, and emotionally to drive themselves and help me learn to drive. I took these steps to ensure that I am being safe when driving, even though I practiced in an empty parking lot it doesn’t make it less necessary to wear a seatbelt and take other safety precautions such as turning phone notifications off when entering a motor vehicle. Also, tell a close family member that you are driving for an approximate amount of time so if they need to access you it will only be for an emergency which lessens the likelihood of distracted driving. Many cars nowadays have built-in technology, so their phone is connected to the car and people can speak on the phone verbally without holding the device. Although this does increase the chance of people having both hands on the steering wheel, it mustn’t be forgotten that talking while driving in any form is dangerous. In order to stay safe while driving, you must take care of yourself because by doing so you are taking care of others. When you are attentive and notice that someone is driving too close and might crash you can switch lanes which saves yourself and the other driver. Attentive driving means one must ensure that they are paying attention, not using their phone, not eating or applying makeup while driving, etc. One would think that this is common sense, but the amount of times you can observe people taking part in dangerous activities when driving is truly terrifying and alarming.

Overall, driving safely should be the utmost priority and concern when entering a motor vehicle, changing the radio and looking at the driver next to you seems like an action that requires only a few seconds; however, that lost time from your eyes being away from the road could lead to one’s life flashing before their eyes. It’s better to prevent what can be prevented and take care of oneself when driving because you can’t ever depend on others to keep you safe when driving if you don’t do it yourself. Hopefully, with these steps, the advice given can turn into action letting people drive in a society where car accidents, more specifically involving teenage drivers, will become things of the past.