Driving for Love

Driving for Love

Four years. Four lucky years I have been driving without an accident. In my eyes, this is an accomplishment, considering all the distractions teenagers and young adults encounter when beginning to drive. I grew up in a small town, where drivers ed was not required. When my family moved to Atlanta, I was worried for my younger brother starting to drive in such a hustling and bustling city, where bowed heads were a common sight on the road. I was grateful that he was required to take a drivers ed course. The more people that become educated on driving, the more they are armed against those who are not. They are protecting themselves and others from injury and death. It is easy to say that people should simply keep their phones stowed away while they drive to prevent any distraction, however, people are masters of their own choices and no one can take away that liberty. The best way to reduce the number of deaths due to driving may be to create fees related to distracted driving, which could be enforced by the police or security cameras. Another way could be to legislate stricter punishments for reckless driving, such as lengthening license suspension times. Everyone I know is safe on the roads, yet I do notice the desire to reach for the phone is present in almost all driving situations. For me, this means redirecting my focus on the road. I usually do this by thinking about what life means to me. As an aspiring pre-med student, I need to uphold my values of doing my best to protect life and building an image of a health provider. I also place myself in my parents shoes, imagining the immense sadness they would feel if they were called with the news that I had died in a car accident, or how disappointed they would be if I was the one to have caused such a tragedy. Lastly, I picture my brother in the seat of the cars around me, and drive in order to keep him safe. Drivers ed is important because losing someone you love, or bringing death upon some else’s loved one, is the worst thing a person can do. Preventing this horrible event on the road makes it one less place where a person needs to worry about their safety and the safety of those they hold in their hearts.