Driving Safely

         Driver education is important for reducing the number of deaths while driving. Driver education is important because it will help you learn the skills that are necessary for driving, and most importantly it will provide a safe place for people to gain experience for driving. Experience is one of the most important things to have to be a safe driver because it will help you stay calm and not panic if you encounter dangerous situations while driving.

         Many different steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths while driving, some of which are, more police patrol, raise how much a ticket costs, and better safety equipment inside vehicles. More police patrol will help reduce the number of deaths while driving by giving out tickets. The tickets would hopefully stop people from doing dangerous things while driving such as, driving recklessly, being on your cellphone while driving, and people not wearing their seatbelts. Raising the price of tickets would make the roads a safer place by making the consequences harsher for breaking traffic laws. The increase of cost in tickets will make it to where it doesn’t seem worth it to speed or text while driving to most people. A lot of people wouldn’t break those laws if it was to cost them another $100 on top of the normal ticket price. New crash avoidance systems could also be of big help in lowering the number of deaths in driving. The crash avoidance systems would provide another layer of safety for everyone driving. Imagine someone is driving down a street texting while driving, then a pedestrian walks out into the street. The driver is unaware of the pedestrian in the street, so the car keeps going and it might hit the person in the street but, if there was a crash avoidance system in the vehicle the car would be stopped, and the pedestrian was saved from major harm or even death.

         I have had multiple experiences with seeing someone driving irresponsibly, as I was going down the road, I was passing someone and as I was approaching the vehicle about to pass it, the vehicle started to change lanes into mine. This forced me to slam the breaks and swerve into the shoulder to avoid crashing with the other vehicle. The vehicle that nearly hit my vehicle kept driving with no care in the world about the wreck that about happened. This could have been prevented though. With proper education on how to safely drive, the driver of the other vehicle would have checked the mirrors and would have physically looked to see if there was anyone behind them before they made the lane change. Doing these few things could decrease the chance of an accident while driving.

         There are many steps I can personally take to become a safer driver. One of the ideas I will follow is about how you can be sure of whether you can do something or not. If I am going to make a left turn and there is a car going down the street towards me, If I have even one doubt that I will not be able to make the turn without cutting someone off, then I will wait for the car to pass. I will also control my speeds while driving, and not worry about how long it takes me to arrive at my destination. If I were to go well above the speed limit, I could not have enough time to react to the changing conditions in front of me. I will also remove distractions while driving by placing my phone in the back or my car. This will help me because I wouldn’t feel inclined to check my phone while driving. I will also lower the volume of my radio in the car. The loud music in the car could prevent me knowing that someone is honking at me, trying to warn me of dangers ahead, and I can’t hear the sirens of emergency vehicles behind me, so I could pull over to the side of the road. I will refrain from eating or drinking while driving as well. If I was eating food or drinking water while driving, my attention would be more focused to what I am consuming instead of focusing on the road. The most important thing to drive safely, is to be comfortable in what you are doing. If you feel as if you cannot safely pass someone in front of you, then don’t.