Driver Safety Improvements

It
is 7:15 AM on Thursday, October 20, 2019. I am in my junior year of
high school, waiting for my neighbor to give me a ride to school. She
is running late.

Let
me take you back to my preteen days, when my neighbor, Jess, and I
would skateboard, swim, and sell lemonade on our street’s corner.
As the years went by, we have both changed.

The
same neighbor is now a rap enthusiast, who drives a beat up, 2001
Honda Civic. She finally picked me up on that icy morning, rocking
out to Snoop Dogg’s top hits. She somehow mastered turning our
fifteen-minute drive into an eight-minute commute every morning.

On
this particular morning, we made our way into town, driving at our
usual fast pace. When we approached a four-way intersection, my
neighbor pulled up to the stop at the exact same time as the car
across from us. As we pulled out, so did the other car. A few seconds
after the crash, followed by some curse words, Jess got out of the
driver’s seat. When she approached the other driver, we realized he
also went to our school. Awkward.

Thankfully,
no one was seriously injured from this collision. However, there is
still a lesson to be learned here. Distracted driving is the cause of
25% of dangerous crashes. Maybe it was the blaring music, or the rush
to get to school before the morning bell, that caused our wreck.
Whatever the reasoning is, does not excuse it. There are no justified
reasons for distracted car accidents. Steps must be taken in an
effort to make roads safer.

Safe
driving starts with the permit. Student drivers should be given more
knowledge before they even grip the steering wheel. From personal
experience as a teenage driver, I know that the permit test is just
not sufficient. By downloading an app and reviewing for a few quick
hours before I took the multiple-choice test, I was able to pass with
a perfect 100%. The permit test should be longer and more thorough.

Individuals
who receive their permit should then receive more practice in the car
before they take their license test. On top of waiting 6 months to
take the test, permit holders should be required to take several
driving lessons with an experienced instructor.

Additionally,
the license test must be longer and more challenging. My license test
consisted of a single right turn at a stop sign, which totaled to
about a minute long of driving. The assessment that allows
individuals to drive definitely needs to be more rigorous.

After
drivers complete the most practice possible, steps will be put in
place to reduce accidents caused by speeding and distractions. To
ensure safer driving, policy and practice changes need to be put in
place to educate individuals before they have free access to the
wheel.