Driver safety and responsibility

I believe the most important steps to take to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is first and foremost, is to always wear your seatbelt. The next step is to never drive impaired under any kind of influence, be it alcohol or any other substance. Step three would be to never text or talk on the phone while driving even if it’s a hands free device. Because even the National safety council has reported that over 1.6 million crashes a year were related to cell phone usage while driving. There were also 390,000 injuries that occured from these accidents because of people texting and driving. Keep both hands on the steering wheel at all times. I also believe that by taking driver education it helps you to learn where everything is on the car such as windshield wipers and hazard lights. There are things most teens don’t think about when they first start to drive.

The importance of driver education to reduce deaths is to gain experience on how to pay attention to your surroundings. As a new driver you need someone who is experienced to point out common flaws people may make that could be dangerous to you as a new driver. It will also help you prepare to handle certain situations if you make a mistake or others around you make a mistake, so hopefully it doesn’t cause an accident.

The worst experience I can remember of driver irresponsibility is my own mom. She was going to work at about 4am and there was hardly any traffic on the highway. She dropped a cigarette and bent over to pick it up causing her to veer off the road. When she came back on the highway there was like an inch difference in the pavement when she hit that she spun out of control and hit the median. After she thought she was ok, and the airbags deployed, she went to move the truck and go to work, which was only a mile away. Her foot was wedged under the pedals and when she removed it her foot hit the gas again sending her backwards into the median once again, standing the truck up on the front grill. She almost went over the median wall, thankfully the truck stopped and slammed her back down on the pavement.

I think to become a safer driver you can always take a drivers education course or a safety class. Once you learn the value of and the experience of these courses, I believe you should share the information with your friends to let them know that driving is a privilege not a right and it can be taken away if they drive irresponsibly. In some states it is a mandatory requirement for graduation that all tenagers take driver’s education. I think it helps relieve some of the tension and stress off a new driver by taking drivers education.