Some key points to driving safe

I have never been in a wreck but have been very close in my very few years of driving. Just this year I was almost T-boned by a truck. I was coming home from school and was at an intersection. I was stopped and was in a rush to get home as the school day had just ended. I thought it was clear but, I almost hit a silver car that was in the turning lane heading my way. We didn’t collide and it wouldn’t have caused much damage. However, I then saw a truck heading our way at around 35 miles per hour. We both managed to get out of the way thankfully but, this made me think twice about rushing or being hasty about anything. There are many key points driving school covers that many people take for granted and are essential to good driving. That day I wasn’t being aware of other drivers and was rushing. As drivers, it is our responsibility to practice good driving.

         My parents have said this to me for as long as I have been driving, and it is that awareness is key. From my experience, it is also a good idea to practice awareness and practice good habits. What they teach in driving school are good habits to use and should not be taken for granted. The reality is that often people think they can cut corners to save time when driving and this is what causes wrecks and can lead to death. For example, I’ve seen many people who don’t fully stop at a stop sign, and many drivers deem this acceptable because they are in a hurry. This often leads to drivers not seeing each other and getting into a wreck. Good habits and practices lead to good results, this includes driving. This is the point of driving school is to teach you good practices and good manners on the road. Most things that lead to damage or injury are preventable, but sometimes it isn’t. As a driver, it is also your responsibility to keep others safe by making sure you drive safely. However, this also means that it is other drivers’ responsibility to drive safely and often we see the opposite. That is why drivers’ education must be taken seriously as it will form good habits and practices to make everyone a safer driver at the least.

         Driving school can’t teach you everything as every car is different, so outside of driving school it is important to know what might affect your driving and how to prevent outside factors from changing your driving.

         Lack of knowledge about how a car works are detrimental to a driver’s success. To clarify, it’s more about knowing what your car is capable of. You need to know how quickly your car can stop in an emergency, how the car will handle in severe weather, and if the handling of the car is affected in any way. Without any knowledge of your car’s handling or being ignorant of a problem with your car, it will affect your driving for better or for worse. If you overestimate your car’s ability, then it can lead to dangerous situations that you could easily have avoided. However, only you can learn the capabilities of your car. This only comes from experience driving. It should be said that this is not an excuse to drive recklessly but more to pay attention and make mental notes while driving.

         In a world surrounded by technology distractions are everywhere but they are also in our minds as well. It is vital to drive free of distractions both mental and physical. Physical distractions are the easiest to get rid of for some while for others it’s harder. For me it’s easy as I just ignore my phone unless I can answer hands-free, otherwise, I don’t even touch it while driving. Some, however, can’t put down their phone and feel that they must see who texted them. The best thing to do is to turn your phone off. The reality is that you can turn your phone on later, the charge in your phone is not going anywhere and that text is probably not that important. However, sometimes we have mental distractions. We may have had a bad day or maybe we forgot something and are in a rush to be somewhere. The answer is to not rush, simply take care of whatever needs to be done and then drive. Driving with a clouded mind lowers awareness and can lead to nearly being in a collision. Driving distraction free is a must, a necessity to driving safely.

         As drivers, it is our responsibility to keep ourselves, our family and friends, and others safe on the road. Driving carries more responsibility than people think until they must shoulder it when it counts. Even as a teen writing this there are many things, I could be doing to be safer on the road. The reality is that almost everyone takes the lessons we learn from driver’s education for granted. We fail to practice those habits and good practices that maybe could have prevented a wreck. So that needs to change, drivers’ education should be taken seriously and we as drivers need to fully realize the responsibility of driving a car amongst others, with others, and pedestrians.