Driving Safety Essay

Tayla Osborne

11/15/2020

Driving Safety Essay

Turning 16, that wonderful age where you can finally get your licence, finally take that first step towards freedom. Driving and owning a car is a first step towards responsibility. Yet, no one really prepares you for the terrifying reality that comes along with the owning and operation of a vehicle.

According to the National Safety Council, in 2019 there were about 38,800 deaths related to car crashes and 4.4 million injuries. The two main causes of these crashes?- distracted and drunk driving.

What can we do to combat these incidents?:

The first step we need to take as a society is proper education when it comes to the dangers of operating a vehicle. When I was in drivers ed, the main(and pretty much only) point that was emphasized, were the rules of the road. Now I am not saying that knowing how to navigate through driving is not important, but I feel that the fourteen- seventeen year olds who end up in drivers ed are not being educated to the fullest extent on how dangerous it can potentially be to operate a car. This lack of knowledge can lead to young drivers not taking driving as seriously as it should be. I have been in two accidents – neither of which I have been the driver, thankfully- and both of them were relatively small accidents and no one got hurt,just minor car damage, but in those accidents I realized how irresponsible my friends could be driving and how careless they were being while operating a car. I have also seen countless accidents in school parking lots from just careless driving. I believe if we could establish a nationwide curriculum of driving safety to be taught during driver’s education courses that we in fact decrease fatalities caused by car accidents dramatically.

I also think that another way to enforce driving education is that whenever people renew license, they should be required to pass a standard driver’s ed test with at least an 80% to be able to renew them.This would make sure that people stay up to date on driving laws in their state/ whatever state they are residing in at the time.

What can I do personally to become a better driver?

Now I will be the first to admit I am not a perfect driver. Everybody makes mistakes and I am not exempt from that. What I can do however, is practice safe driving techniques, such as: making sure my phone is on Do Not Disturb while driving, so I have no temptation for distractions, adjust all of my car settings before pulling off so I will not have to turn on my GPS, change the radio, etc. while driving. As a soon to be college student, I should research the driving laws in states that I am applying to. Most of the schools I am applying to are in states colder than the one I am in currently, Louisiana. I should learn things I need to navigate the type of weather that I will soon be living in.

Car safety is something that should be taken seriously. We as a society can and should do better when it comes to taking care of lives and safety of our neighbors, friends, and family. We as people should take responsibility for our actions and choose to drive carefully.