Being an Educated Driver

Drivers ed Initiative Award – Summer 2019

Name: Alexandra bartolomei
From: Columbus, Ohio
Votes: 41

The
most important thing for a driver to be is educated. Knowledge, is
power. We are often blinded by the reality that we ourselves, can be
in a fatal car accident. We are accustomed to seeing accidents like
these happen to other people, and we are oblivious that it could
happen to us, until it actually does. Being educated means that we
could create a generation of drivers who stay away from their phones
while driving. We don’t need to stop using our phones or completely
put them away in our daily lives, we just need to learn self control
while driving. For instance, train yourself to put your phone in a
place you cannot see it while driving. Driving usually doesn’t take
long, especially not long enough that it’ll make you miss something
so incredibly important, that you just had to stop and see it. If you
can’t force yourself to put your phone where you can’t see it,
try turning it off, so you won’t be tempted to look at it.

In
order to reduce the number of deaths on the road, more people need to
be aware of the severity of this problem. Great ways to get people to
actually take in this information is to share it in places they are
going to see. For example, social media, the news, or even billboards
on roads. Information that could be helpful includes graphs, like the
ones shown on this website, that show the number of deaths in cars
over two years compared to the number of deaths from the Vietnam war.

Thankfully,
I myself and no one from my family have been in a car accident.
However, someone that used to live in my neighborhood and still goes
to my school was involved in a car accident that threatened her life.
This however, was not caused by her or her friend driving distracted,
but by another driver that was intoxicated. The reason for even
bringing this up is to explain that a lot of the time, the problem
may not be you, but may be the drivers around you. Whether it’s
being distracted by phones or intoxication, we must be aware that
there are drivers out there that are unaware of what’s going on,
and in turn, threaten the life of others.

There
are many steps that can be taken to become a better driver and to
help others become better on the road. First off, like I mentioned
earlier, put your phone away. Don’t be tempted to look at your
phone, I can assure you that nothing immensely important is happening
that is worth risking your life for. Be a role model for others.
Living in a generation addicted to technology, it’s important to
show others that it’s possible to drive without looking at your
phone. If you drive with your friends and avoid looking at your
phone, you can serve as a reminder for them to do the same the next
time they drive.