Reminding Drivers To Use Common Sense

Though educating drivers about fatalities on the road is important, there will still be people who do not care about the consequences of their actions. They say: “I’m living my life to the fullest. I don’t care if I die.” It seems that they don’t think about how they are putting other people’s lives at risk, too – pedestrians, those driving on the road, or the passengers in their own car. They forget that they could face criminal charges and jail time for manslaughter or reckless endangerment. It is not a good idea to scare people, but when it involves people’s lives, it’s fine to make them feel uneasy about driving recklessly. Hopefully, they will understand that their careless actions could affect families, communities, and towns.

A lot of people don’t realize that buzzed driving is dangerous. People need to be taught that reaction time is still slow when someone’s buzzed. A person should call a taxi or use the apps for businesses like Lyft and Uber to get to their destination.

There are many different reasons why people speed; however, being late for work, school, or an event is no excuse. Because of playing children, every neighborhood should have speed bumps and signs for the speed limit and bus stops.

Phones are addictive and they’re one of the main causes for crashes in the modern world. People forget that it only takes a second for someone to swerve into their lane, or for them to end up in someone else’s. Many students and adults still don’t heed these warnings, so laws regarding the drivers and phones should be stricter. They should use Bluetooth or the speaker instead of holding a phone in order to keep both hands on the wheel. Rumble strips should be put in the divider of all two-lane roads to prevent head-on collisions from distracted driving.

When I was a baby, I was in an accident on a freeway bridge. A woman driving a truck exited the ramp while looking at a map. She hit our Jeep on my side so hard that my baby seat came loose, sending me to the other side of the car. There were small dots of blood on my face from glass, and a larger piece was stuck in the top of my head. My face healed, but the left side of my skull has a dent in it. My father and I still suffer from spine issues and serious migraines, and my mother had pre-existing conditions that became worse.

If an adult in my car refuses to put on their seatbelt, I’m leaving them at the next gas station. I don’t want to face serious criminal charges if we get into a crash. They can call someone else to take them where they need to go. Also, if someone is driving me and they are on their phone, I’ll tell them to put it away. If I die, they should not have to live with that weight on their shoulders.

Insurance Information, Institute. “Facts + Statistics: Highway Safety.” III, Insurance Information Insitute, 2020, www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-highway-safety.