Educate and Drive Safe

Driver education is very important in reducing the number of deaths resulting from driving. I think it is very beneficial for everyone, young and old, to attend a driving school or have a driving instructor who is licensed or certified. These individuals are going to teach you the correct, legal, and most responsible way of driving. I don’t feel these instructors cut corners or gloss over important aspects of driving. For example, they teach you to fully stop at stop signs and look both ways before proceeding through the intersection. I know my state requires many driving hours for individuals who are under the age of 18 but I think it would be beneficial if every new driver had to record a set number of practice driving hours with a state certified driving instructor. This way everyone would have some instruction on the proper and correct way to operate a motor vehicle. When you have a family member or friend teach you there may be occasions where they are explaining or showing things that aren’t quite the correct way according to the state’s driver’s manual. It is important to know the rules and laws of the road and to follow them to prevent injuries and death to yourself and others. There is a reason for the posted signs and speed limits.

I think if all drivers followed the rules of the road, we would see a lot less deaths caused by driving. In people my age I think one of the biggest causes of death is not following the posted speed limits. Two football athletes at my high school suffered brain injuries and ultimately died because of a motor vehicle accident. The reason for that accident was that the driver was driving at a speed well over the posted speed limit, lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree. The two students from my school were ejected from the vehicle. I do not believe they were wearing a seatbelt which is another important factor when driving.

I was involved in a motor vehicle accident when I was about 12 or 13. I was the front seat passenger. My aunt’s vehicle was struck from behind when we were stopped at a red light. The driver of the other vehicle was not paying attention to the traffic because she was on her cellphone. She quickly changed lanes and was unable to stop in enough to time before hitting our car. I don’t think that person was speeding because there was too much traffic for that. For many months following that accident I was nervous as a passenger in any car especially when I seen another car behind ours. I also thought to myself were they going to stop.

Now, I am usually in a car with my friends. Most of my friends follow the rules and laws while driving. I do have one friend though that likes to drive fast. I do not drive with him very often because it makes me nervous. I do not think you can stop quickly if you are driving too fast. Now, as far has my family members go, they are a different story. I remind them often to get off the phone, stop texting and drive more safely. They are much more aggressive on the road than my friends.

Currently I do not have a driver’s license and do not think I will be getting one any time soon. There are too may unsafe drivers on the road. I live in an urban area and daily I see drivers speeding, running red lights, and driving on parts of the road that are not lanes. I also see people always on their cellphone whether its talking or texting and not paying attention. I think that is a huge problem and distraction. I attempt to keep the driver and other passengers in the vehicle that I am in safe by alerting the driver of dangerous conditions I see and by reminding them to drive safely.

I think if more people were defensive drivers and not so aggressive on the road it could save a lot of lives. In my area the aggression on the road has increased drastically and people are now being shot regularly in road rage incidents. Sometimes its over a disagreement as to who was able to go first but most recently a person was shot for driving too slow in the right lane on a street that had traffic lights. This is very concerning and another reason I choose to be a passenger.

All in all, it is the responsibility of the drivers on the road to drive in a safe way and to make sure they are following the rules and laws.