Do Your Part

Wenquan
(Paul) Zhang

Safe
Driving Scholarship Essay

April
28, 2020

Do
Your Part

A
few years ago, I went mountain biking with some friends. We were led
by a guide, and on the way down we encountered a banked curve; the
guide stopped us and said: “This curve may look fun, but it’s not
as easy as you’d think. I’ve seen many people Mario Kart their
way through and let me tell you – it didn’t end well for them.”

I
realized that the guide’s words are analogous to driving as soon as
I began to drive. I thought driving was as easy as go-karting… that
is, until I decided otherwise – within a single week of earning my
license, I have already witnessed two crashes that totaled all cars
involved. Those ordeals shook me up, and now I strictly follow the
three seconds rule for trailing distance. The problem, though, is
that most people still drive like they are operating a go-kart; they
speed through the freeway at 90 mph while texting because they do not
understand how dangerous driving truly is.

Driver
education is one way to teach people the dangers of driving. However,
most people do not take what they learn to heart. They hear the
statistics about deaths related to driving and think: “Those people
are reckless. I am not one of them. I will not get into that sort of
trouble.” With this mentality, teens and adults alike go onto the
road, not-so-blissfully unaware that they are risking their lives.

So
how will we learn? I believe that the most effective tool for
learning is experience – the two crashes, for example, are what
prompted me to take extra steps to drive safely. But alas, we cannot
wait for everyone to get into a crash to learn a lesson. Another
possibility is to raise the age requirement, which is also
unrealistic, for driving has become popular culture among teens.

Ultimately,
the best way to mitigate car accidents may be to just do our part. We
cannot hope for all to act as courteously on the road as we act. The
fact is, we will come across unruly drivers; when we do, we can do
our part by driving defensively and avoiding a crash that would have
cost both our life and the life of that driver. Furthermore, by
exhibiting safe driving, we are setting a positive example for teens.
One common tool for learning in an undeveloped mind is imitation;
teens like to imitate adults, who often exhibit bad traits on the
road. Clearly, we can improve the situation by starting with
ourselves.

People
– teens and adults – tend to overlook the dangers of driving.
They do not believe the risks apply to them, a mentality that has
caused countless accidents. While drivers ed may help get rid
of that mentality, most regard what they learn as statistics rather
than life lessons. But before trying to convince others to change,
maybe we should think about what we can do better. We need to do our
part.