One Wrong Move

The importance of safe driving is a topic that seems to be more and more ignored and overlooked everyday. However, having a strong and sound background on driving and responsibility of sitting behind the wheel is of utmost importance. Every year, there are more than 38,000 deaths related to driving whether that is caused by texting, drinking, or simply not paying attention. Most of those can be prevented. This is where driver education can cause a big difference in the death toll. For example, if teenagers 15 years and up were required to take driving classes or lessons prior to taking their test to get a driving permit, it could cause a significant decrease in the number of deaths every year. On the same topic, if a professor had to take classes and multiple benchmarks just to teach other students, shouldn’t a driver have to be held to the same standards? The importance of driver education is just as important if not more important than a teacher/professor because a driver is not alone on the road; one driver’s mistake can affect every other person driving alongside them. If drivers were more educated, less accidents would occur which would directly cause a decrease in the number of deaths caused by accidents.

I have personally been in two accidents in my life, thus far. The first time, I was about 6 years old and the driver of the car I was in ran a red light. We got T-boned. I remember I didn’t make any noise because at first I didn’t know what had happened. I remember the truck spinning at least three times and then hitting a light pole. I was very dizzy and scared. Later, I remember seeing the woman that had hit us- the front of her car was completely smashed in. The engine was simply a tangle of smoking metal. She was shaking and slowly rocking herself while sitting on the curb. All I can remember thinking was, why did he run the light? Why was he going 60 in a 45? We are so lucky no one got seriously injured. Since then, I always wait to go when the light turns green because even though I have the right of way, some man or woman might think they can make it though that red light unscathed. Not everyone is as lucky as we were. To be the best driver I can be, I just need to be cautious and pay attention. I shouldn’t do anything that can potentially put others in danger. Whether that is following the speed limit or checking both sides of an intersection before I begin to accelerate, being a good driver just means putting yourself in safe situations. If everyone did that, there would be very few driver-caused accidents.