Driver Safety Essay

Cassidy Rogoway

Driver safety should be our top priority amongst other concerns in our community. According to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC), “Each year, 1.35 million people are killed on roadways around the world. Every day, almost 3,700 people are killed globally in road traffic crashes involving cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, or pedestrians. More than half of those killed are pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists” (2019). Most of these accidents are not due to mechanical error but rather driver error by distraction. When I was learning to drive the best way for me to learn was to watch my parents drive and learn how they deal with on the road situations a book cannot teach me. I noticed both my parents have their phones on and they use them while driving. I unfortunately learned these bad habits and now as my younger sister is learning to drive I am working hard to break these habits for her.

My biggest distraction is using my phone while driving. I listen to music on AUX, I use my GPS, and as much as I would like to say I don’t I text and drive. As you said these are obvious distractions but something not so obvious but extremely distracting to me is driving tired. I work long hours and often my exhaustion gets in the way of good driving. To combat this I roll down my windows and make sure I’m not playing any music. If this doesn’t work I pull over and take a second to refocus before I get back on the road. I taught my sister to do this as well. She was surprised how often I pull over to do something instead of continuing driving. To avoid my phone while driving I set up my music or GPA before getting on the road. If the GPS messes up or I need to change the music I pull over, correct my phone and then continue on the road undistracted.

These are some of my tips and tricks but they won’t work for everyone. My sister has ADHD and is easily distracted. Behind the wheel she gets tunnel vision when under stress and has trouble thinking. For her I have suggested to put her phone away completely and to map out her route before leaving the house. Since she cannot drive alone yet she drives with a parent in the passenger seat. Our parents talk to her when she drives and try to teach how to drive when she is behind the wheel. She has told me how hard it is for her to drive when they talk to her so I gave her a list of driving rules for passengers that I made for our parents when I was first learning how to drive. It worked great for me and I hope it helps her. These rules consist of no yelling, distracting hand motions, and other things to help her drive completely focused. I love my younger sister and all of these suggestions I have given her are in hope to prevent her from becoming another number in the list of statistics the CDC gave out. At the end of the day those numbers are people with families who love them and distractions are never as important as someone’s life.