Taken For Granted

Most people do not realize it, but when you are in a car you are going really fast. I know this may seem obvious to most people, but it’s something a lot of us take for granted. To put it into perspective, the fastest man alive, Usain Bolt, can only run around 27 miles an hour, drivers can go 25 mph as they drive through a school zone. When on the freeway, cars can easily cruise at a comfortable speed of 65 mph. The average weight of a SUV is between 2,000 and 6,000 pounds, other automobiles like trucks weigh between 6,000 and 8,000 pounds. Two things that we just established are that a car is heavier and faster than a human being, so if something that big is going fast and it hits anything, it is most likely going to do some damage.

Driver’s Education has the goal of explaining and showing just how dangerous a car can be. We take it for granted since they are all around us, but every car driving on the road has the potential to kill a passing pedestrian or fellow driver. Driver’s Education explains the rules of the road and why those said rules have been put into place. The key reason of course is to keep everyone safe on and off the road. However, even with a good education in the ways of the road, knowing the rules will not help the driver if the driver is too distracted while they are driving. Distractions can be anything from listening to loud music, talking on the phone or texting, eating food while driving, or dealing with an unruly passenger. Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of accidents in the world. Even a slight distraction can lead to major consequences on the road. The quick head snap to look at your phone because the ringer went off or moving your eyes downwards to turn up the music could lead to devastation. Ways to limit distractions while on the road would be to put your phone on airplane mode, or vibrate, so that the driver can’t hear their phone go off. If the music is on, drivers should adjust the volume before they start driving. Another idea is that drivers should not eat any food when they are driving. Lastly, if there is an unruly passenger in the car, pull over and wait for them to calm down, or kick them out…do not drive with someone who is behaving irrationally. You’ll be doing yourself and other drivers a favor by not endangering their lives.

I personally have never been in a car accident, but I have seen one happen. I once saw a boy crossing the street to get to his house, while all of the cars were patiently waiting for him to pass. Then this one truck took the turn too fast and hit the boy. I watched as the boy’s body crumpled into the car, before springing off, and flying several feet away. Fortunately, the boy was able to get up and the driver exited her car to check on him. Unfortunately, she made a mistake because after she checked on the boy she drove away. The girl was young and she even offered to drive the boy to a hospital, but instead of waiting for authorities she left…which would be considered a hit and run. Something that could have resulted in jail time. While my own family has fortunately never been involved in one of those accidents I do remember a time when my own mother almost hit a woman. We were pulling out of a parking lot and my mom stopped. She was waiting for a car to pass before leaving the parking lot, but a runner thought my mom was stopping for her. They looked at her, but didn’t make eye contact and began to cross. When they were right in front of the car my mom hit the gas. Luckily, I was screaming my head off for her to stop and the runner was able to jump away from the car. My mother had been distracted, not from being on her phone, she just didn’t see the runner.

Accidents and distractions are going to happen, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try our best to prevent them. When I start driving, I plan to turn my phone on to vibrate, not touch my music dial while driving, and I plan to try my best to always be vigilant. It really only takes one mistake when you’re driving for you to kill someone or for you to kill yourself. Because cars are all around us we tend to take for granted just how dangerous they are. Self driving cars are not available yet, so it is important that we pay attention while driving, since the greatest threat on the road is usually us…the drivers!