Safe Driving Saves Lives – Gabrielle Desear

Drivers ed Initiative Award – Summer 2019

Name: Gabrielle Desear
From: Reno, Nevada
Votes: 65

Safe
Driving Saves Lives

Teenage
drivers are regularly characterized as reckless, distracted, and
prone to accidents. Though this is not definitive of every high
schooler who sits behind a steering wheel, it is true that young,
newly licensed adolescents are incredibly overrepresented in car
crash statistics. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), drivers from the ages of 16 to 19 are almost three
times more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash than those 20
or older. Teenagers are also much more likely to speed and make rash
decisions that lead to car crashes. Unfortunately, this fact is
something that I have witnessed firsthand.

I
was fifteen years old and a high school sophomore when we were
involved in a car accident. My mother was taking me to school that
morning when another driver failed to yield at a stop sign and
crashed into the side of our car. Sadly, the other driver turned out
to be a teenager who forgot to look both ways at the stop sign before
turning into the street that we were on. Although nobody was
physically injured from the accident, this seemingly small mistake
resulted in our vehicle getting totaled, not to mention immense
emotional distress to both my mother and me. We were lucky to come
out of this collision unscathed, but it is scary to think there could
have been worse consequences under a different set of circumstances.

Drivers
education plays a significant role in reducing the number of crashes
caused by teens. A car is a complex piece of machinery, and driving
is a skill that requires a considerable amount of practice and
concentration. Graduated driver licensing programs allow teens who
are new to driving to progressively learn important skills and
experience over time, potentially reducing fatal crashes among
sixteen-year-olds by 26 to 41 percent, according to a national study
conducted by the CDC.

However,
there are several campaigns being implemented to reduce the number of
traffic deaths. One of them zeroes in on teens who are less likely to
wear their seatbelts on the road. Public service announcements
emphasizing buckling one’s seatbelt, whether you’re a driver or
passenger, have been launched to reduce your chances of becoming
seriously injured in a car crash. Young adult drivers are more likely
to drive while under the influence of alcohol; assigning a designated
driver or using apps like Uber or Lyft can easily prevent a potential
drunk driving accident. Ultimately, being safe on the road involves
prioritizing the safety of yourself and others. Though there will
always be risks involved with driving, making conscious decisions to
stay safe on the road should always be a driver’s primary concern.