Drive Safe for Others

Driving safe is not just for your benefit. Paying attention when you are driving also protects the ones around you. Not just the other people driving on the road, you are protecting your family and friends. You are protecting the ones who will have to live without you when you are gone. You are protecting the other drivers’ family and friends. I take driving safely very seriously because I do not want anyone else having to go through what I went through.

Driver education is important because it teaches us how to drive safely for ourselves and for others. We learn how to obey traffic laws, drive consciously, and keep ourselves and others safe while driving. Driver Education provides defensive driving instruction and discussions of accident types and can reduce the likelihood of an accident occurring. Furthermore, having knowledge of road safety can prevent many dangers to the road and make them safer for everyone. Teen crashes and fatality rates are highest between the ages of 16-18, which makes sense because they are just starting to drive and have little to no experience. Teens taking drivers education are less likely to be involved in crashes or to receive a traffic violation during their first two years of driving. These programs prepare young people to drive and can play a helping role in teens beginning to develop driving skills.

I think that there are many things that can reduce the number of deaths related to driving. When I am driving, I refuse to put my vehicle in gear until all my passengers are buckled up and I give the front seat passenger my phone so they can relay messages and text for me. If I am driving by myself, I put my phone in the cup holder in the backseat to avoid temptation. The rules that everyone should go by are: Never overestimate your ability to multitask, never think that being on time for a business meeting or social engagement is worth risking your life and safety — and the lives and safety of others, always remember that when it comes to distracted driving your cell phone is not the only culprit. Distractions such as fast food and FM radio dials can also take your eyes and mind off the road, and never fall prey to the belief that it can never happen to you, among other things that you can do to keep yourself and others safe.

I have been in a minor fender-bender on a school trip. I was in a van with my high school music teacher driving. We were on our way back to school, and my teacher glanced down at his phone. The car in front of us stopped abruptly and since the teacher was not paying attention, we hit them. I was in the front seat, and it was like it was happening in slow motion. I didn’t make it home until midnight that night because the van was totaled, and we had to wait for another school van to pick us up. Since then, I have been dedicated to making sure that I do not look at my phone while driving and making sure that my family and friends do not have their phone while I am riding with them. I have also lost an uncle to a car accident. I was 5 years old, and I did not understand why he was not coming home. I think that experience affected me in a way that my family does not understand. My uncle’s death is still affecting to this day, and I am doing everything I can to make sure that my family does not have to go that awful experience again.

The following skills are something that I believe helped me become and better and safer driver. Think safety first; not just your safety but others safety, be aware of your surroundings – pay attention, do not depend on other drivers – you are responsible for yourself, follow the 3 to 4 second rule; even longer for semi-trucks, keep your speed down, have an escape route, separate risks, and cut out distractions. These skills and practices can one day save your life and the lives around you.

I am a firm believer that when you die, you kill a part of your family as well. It is important to protect that branch of your family tree because having a family member die is something that severely impacts you and it is not something that you can just bounce back from. I want to raise awareness for this problem and help others understand how that crash may not only end your life, but the lives of your mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, and anyone else that loves and cares about you.