The Rules of the Road

Arleth Morales

24 August 2020

The Rules of the Road

Driving, the most used for transportation but always comes with a risk. Nearly about 2,000 children under the age of 16 die every year in a traffic collision, which is why it is important to learn driver education. Every day we choose to drive is a day we risk getting in an accident because driving is such an unpredictable thing. The steps that can be taken are learning the rules and laws of driving so it can help lower the chances of an accident even occurring. I as well have had experiences with accidents even at a young age. The most traumatic memory of all is the day my family decided to go on a road trip to California. We had a truck at the time and the trunk was filled with our sit cases and in the passenger side where my mom was sitting at was my dog Zukie with the window rolled down. We were at a traffic light on red when it turned green and as my dad was moments away from stepping the gas and out of nowhere a car smashed us from the behind. It created a wave of motion flinging our bodies forwards and my dog fell out from the window. At this point everyone was in shock and me and my sister just looked at each other dazed and confused taking time to process all that just happened. My mom hastily opened the door and went after my injured dog that decided to start running away from the scene. My dad also started frantically searching for his glasses that somehow managed to stay on his face. Luckily after this whole ordeal my dog was safe and caught by my mom. The car ended up completely totaled, we had to go to a chiropractor, and the road trip was cancelled. I am so grateful that this was just a minor accident compared to the deathly ones that happen every day. So now that I’m entering my senior year, I finally got my license and now understand how it is to be in the driver’s seat. Trust me it was not easy learning how to drive in my experience and it’s a responsibility that should be handled with total focus. I make sure to always put my phone where I won’t get distracted and to be on alert where I am and what cars are doing. I know that anything can change in an instance and all it takes is one second. We can be the change this world needs and make the roads a safer place, it all starts with us.