Steering Towards Safety

In today’s day and age, driving has become one of the top reasons why teens have died. Not only learning road safety but actually understanding and comprehending it can save lives. Many teens just attend driving classes to get it over with, and see it as just another step in the process to get their license to drive. Most do not pay attention and just breezy though the lessons on road safety not knowing that it can save their lives one day. These lessons are not just another step in the process, but actually a vital part of the driving process. A driver’s base education can form the way they see driving forever. Having a proper education in driving can make you a safe driver and make the roads safer for other drivers as well. Something as simple as understanding what a yield is can prevent an unnecessary car accident from happening.

I believe showing the consequences of irresponsible driving is a great way to show new drivers the importance of being a safe and reliable driver. When I did my driving classes, my instructor showed the class the story of Jacqui Saburido. In her story, Jacqui gets into an accident with a drunk driver where she is pinned in the car and the other girls in the car with her died. Her car was engulfed in flames while she was trapped inside. After a minute she was finally freed but had sustained major injuries. Her life was changed in an instant. Ever since seeing Jacqui’s story, I have never even thought about drinking and driving. Seeing the impact that one stupid mistake had on 3 people lives really made me think about what it takes to be a good driver. I feel if we show new divers these consequences that their actions can have, it can help prevent these unnecessary accidents and crashes. Showing people that their actions can cause other people harm and sometimes even themselves is a great way to get the messages across.

I have been in a few car accidents with my family. I have been lucky enough that it was nothing major and I had not gotten hurt. However, this has been just pure luck. I have seen my father text and drive most of the time he is driving. While I tell him to not text, he continues to do it. In recent times, he has not been texting as often anymore. As for my friends, they are not better drivers. They can be irresponsible and crazy behind the wheel. For example, one night I was hanging out with my friends Mary and Audrey, and we were taking Mary home. Audrey was driving and taking a shortcut through a small,curvy, road. While she was driving she had the song cha cha slide playing. Every Time there was a move in the song she would do the movement with the car. For instance, if the song said “Slide to the right” she would jerk the car to the right very fast then return back to her lane. That night she was doing the “Cha Cha Slide,” and when the “reverse” part of the song came on she tried to put the car in reverse very fast. Things did go as expected and her car broke down at the curve of the street. It was night time, we were 3 teenage girls, and cars were passing us very fast. I was nervous that a car would hit us since there were no street lights. My friends on the other hand thought that this was a hilarious situation and were laughing and posting about our situation. After a few minutes, Audrey finally got her car to work and we all came to an agreement that we would never do that again.

As to being a better driver myself, one thing I could work on is speeding. I do not mean to do it intentionally or just because I feel like it. I usually speed when I am late for something like school or practice. When my club has early morning practices on the other side of town I usually end up being a few minutes late and speed on the highway in order to not get yelled at. Since I live in a border city, there are many trailer drivers and my parents have told me that I could lose control and hit a trailer. I am still not comfortable driving alongside trailers so I know that it is a very real possibility. I understand that this is a dangerous habit to have, so recently I have tried getting up earlier than usual so I do not have to speed. In order to help other people become safer drivers, I could call people out on their wrong doings. Though it doesn’t seem like much or sound very effective, when someone’s wrongdoings are pointed out they think about the advice given to them. Most take the advice and put it to use the next time they drive.