Safe Driving Means Drivers ed

Elise
Biscaro Drivers ed Scholarship Essay

The
amount of deaths caused by reckless, intoxicated, or distracted
driving is

astronomical.
This IS a national issue and it needs to be addressed. I grew up in a
small town in

Western
New York called East Aurora. It’s an extremely safe, and welcoming
community where

everyone
knows everybody. We have one main supermarket and a co-op where
everyone does

their
main shopping in town. I think because of how tight knit this
community is, a single death

can
cause an entire disorder in balance.

I
was in the tenth grade when this happened, a neighborhood kid had
been out drinking

with
his friends in the parking lot of our main grocery store. They
thought because they only

lived
five minutes from home they would be okay to drive. They got into the
car and pulled out

of
their parking spot super fast. That’s when it happened. One of the
kids’ moms had stopped at

the
store on her way home from work to get some groceries for the family,
she was walking out

of
the store, shopping cart in hand when the intoxicated kids whipped
out of their spot. They

didn’t
see her behind the car because it was dark.

I
arrived at the store thirty minutes after it had happened with two of
my friends. We

were
going to grab some snacks when we saw three cop cars, an ambulance,
and a firetruck.

They
had the front entrance taped off and as we walked closer we could see
a smashed shopping

cart,
dropped groceries, and blood. The intoxicated kid had pulled out so
fast that he had actually

dragged
the woman by the shopping cart six feet backwards until they had run
them both over.

Dead.

There
are programs, Drivers Ed, Driving classes, and student driver
meetings available.

There
are so many resources out there to take to make sure that you and the
people that you live

on
this earth with are safe while in a vehicle. Utilize the resources
out there because no matter

how
many days you spend in a classroom learning about the hazards of the
road, no matter how

many
afternoons you miss goofing off with your friends to takes Drivers
Ed, no matter how

many
books you read, and films you watch, will NEVER amount to the
life/lives that you can

take
so easily while behind the wheel.

Take
the Drivers Ed classes offered to you at your school, in your
town, or through your

insurance.
Read the books, study the material, know the road and your vehicle
and the do’s and

don’ts
of the road. Practice driver’s etiquette as well as abiding by the
rules of the road. Take the

time
to know what you’re doing before you even think about getting
behind the wheel, because

driving
is a huge responsibility and accidents don’t have to happen. Be
smart, resourceful, and

mature,
driving is a privilege not a convenience.