No One Wants That Phone Call

Personally, driving makes me very anxious. First of all, I am a very anxious person, but also many of my family members have gotten into terrifying car accidents that have just increased my anxiety over the years. I think it is super important to promote safe driving and driving education, so that no one has to experience the feeling of receiving a phone call that says that a loved one just got in a car accident.

A couple weeks ago, my mother and I got a call from my older sister saying she had just got in an accident on the interstate. She had told us that the driver in the left lane was trying to switch lanes, but she was in their blind spot. He ran her off the road, so she was left bouncing up and down in the median. Luckily, no one was harmed in the accident, but if that driver was educated on driver safety, he would have known to turn his head when switching lanes to ensure no one is in his blind spot. This accident was not deadly, but it easily could’ve been.

Almost sixteen years ago, my Aunt Tiffany got into a car accident late one night. She was driving home from my family’s house when she took a turn too fast and drove off the road. That night, my grandparents got a call saying that their daughter had passed away in an accident. If only someone had stressed to her how important safe driving is, maybe she would still be here today.

We need to promote safe driving in the media more often. This includes an increase in ads on TV and social media platforms that tug on people’s heart strings. Ads that remind people that they need to drive safe if they want to ensure that they will make it home to their families. We can also actively correct people if they are not driving safe. Sometimes I will be riding in the car with my mom, and she’ll pick up her phone to look at something. Immediately, I tell her to put it down or park the car if it is that important. My best line is usually, “Is it more important than my life?” After that, she usually puts the phone down.

Driver education is also a very important factor in decreasing the number of deaths caused my driving incidents. I feel that the permit test should increase its difficulty. At least in my state, the permit test that people take before getting their license is way too easy. I feel that people should have to know all the laws and rules before being allowed on the roads. The test should include more questions to make sure that drivers like the one who ran my sister off the interstate are not allowed on the roads yet.

Even I occasionally slip up when I’m driving. I’ll get on my phone for a couple seconds, or I’ll go 10 miles over the speed limit. Sometimes, I need to put myself in check and remember to drive carefully. My best tactic for combating my unsafe driving is to remind myself that I could crash at any second with that kind of behavior. I immediately stop myself, and as time goes on, I work harder and harder to keep driving safe.

If we develop a greater presence of safe driving ads in the media while increasing the difficulty of permit tests, I think we can decrease the amount of driving accidents. It takes one second to glance at a phone and crash, so we need to do our best to increase the awareness of accidents involving driving.