Responsible Drivers for the Win

I think that Driver’s Education is vital for reducing deaths as a result of driving. Driving is a task that most Americans will perform in their life. Ensuring that each driver has the driver’s education course can reduce the number of deaths on the road. Each driver that receives a driver’s education will have the knowledge to safely drive. It is important that a driver has knowledge of the laws, and can complete the driver’s test before getting on the road. That alone can decrease the number of deaths because every driver will have the tools to drive safely. Driver’s education teaches everyone key skills like defensive driving which is essential to driving. This skill includes being aware of surroundings and being able to react to other drivers. Awareness of the roads we are on and other drivers is a great way to reduce the deaths that happen yearly. Mistakes happen as a driver, it is our responsibility to be aware and ready to react in the event someone does make a mistake. Driver’s education gives all the tools that can create safe, responsible drivers. Safe and responsible drivers are the key to reducing driving deaths in our country.

Action needs to be taken to reduce the number of deaths on the road in our nation. The first step that needs to be made to start seeing progress is eliminating distractions. Phones are a big distraction that leads to many deaths on the road. No driver can safely drive a vehicle and use their phone at the same time. It is irresponsible for a driver to do so and can harm people who are responsible drivers. Another distraction is food while it may not seem like a big deal it can be very dangerous. Even though we have drive-thrus it does not mean we should eat while we drive. Eating food takes one of our hands away from the steering wheel and focuses away from the road. When driving on the road anything can happen at any moment. Another step is to stop all driving under the influence. Driving under the influence can easily be avoided in today’s world. Anyone can order an Uber, Lyft, or any other ride service to be picked up instead of choosing to drive under the influence. Having a ride setup or someone capable of driving safely is something that anyone can do before drinking. It just melts down to being responsible and aware of the dangers that come with driving under the influence. The third step is not succumbing to road rage. Road rage is one of many reasons for unnecessary and preventable accidents on the road. As it can result in deadly collisions and not just small bumper-to-bumper collisions. Controlling your temper and having patience are key to not succumbing to road rage. As elderly, new or tourist drivers can be slow or not sure of direction while on the road it can be frustrating while driving with them. Part of being a safe and responsible driver is to understand we share the roads. Instead of reacting poorly a driver should take some deep breaths and be considerate of other drivers. Everyone can safely get to where they are going when we are considerate and responsible. This step should also be one of the easier steps it requires no training just some patience.

I have been in one accident in my life in which I was driving my mom’s vehicle. The accident occurred on a one-way street that received quite a bit of traffic. To start explaining how this accident happened, I was driving to the college that I was attending my freshman year. I was driving the speed limit which was 35 mph and had a few cars in my lane in front of me. There was a truck behind me and the other two lanes had a few cars in them. The cars in my lane had suddenly braked about 4 car lengths in front of me so I started to brake softly then more so as I realized that was completely stopped on the road. I came to a complete stop a few feet behind the vehicle in front of me. The truck behind me had started to slow down a few seconds later than I did and had to slam its brakes. They slid into the back of my vehicle. Their vehicle had no noticeable damage to it and my vehicle had a smashed trunk door. When speaking with the other driver it was discovered that they were on their phone when the accident occurred. Everyone was okay and not in need of any medical attention. This was a prime example of why phone use is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

A step that I can take when driving is to be more aware of my surroundings which means using my mirrors to scan around my car. Many accidents happen because of unaware drivers trying to switch lanes. It is one of those frequent mistakes that young and inexperienced drivers make. This is also why defensive driving is important to drivers. Along with having patience because a driver may become enraged if another driver switches lanes right in front of them. Another step that I can take as a driver is to lower my music volume as too loud music can be a distraction. I know some of my friends listen to their music fairly loud and it can render them from hearing emergency vehicle sirens. Whenever I am in a vehicle I can request that the music be lowered or set to a reasonable level to be a safer driver.

A third step that I can take is to follow the speed limit better. I tend to drive a bit over the speed limit to get places faster or to match traffic flow. I know that speeding does not get you places that much faster. I also know that it can lead to you not arriving at your destination at all because of how dangerous it can be. Speeding allows for less time to react and causes more damage when a collision does occur. This step is very important and one that I think everyone should take.