The Importance of Safe Driving

Driving is the main form of transportation for people to get to work, school, etc. With this being said, cars can be incredibly dangerous and can lead to major injuries and even death. According to the CDC, car crashes are the leading cause of death for people aged 5 to 29 globally. This is why it is so important to have good driving education so that people can learn safe driving right from the start. Driver’s education teaches you what to do in high pressure situations so that if you ever encounter one, you can handle it in the safest way possible. Not only that, but driver’s education gives you the confidence you need in order to drive. You cannot second guess yourself on the road, and because of the preparation and support in driver’s education, you have the ability to trust yourself while driving. Despite how great driver education is currently, I do think it can be better. For starters I think we need to have more driving lessons with an instructor before getting a permit. As of right now, you only need to drive for a total of six hours with an instructor. But I would argue that this is not enough. My friend and I took the class together and by the time our last lesson came, we still did not fully feel prepared to drive without the instructor. Six hours is not enough time to make sure you are doing everything correctly and safely. There are so many different factors that go into driving that you simply cannot fit into the time given. One of these being highway driving. There are so many people who hate driving on the expressway/highway, and I think if they were given more time in driver’s training they would feel more confident in themselves and would like it better.

Even with good driver’s training, many deaths still occur due to car accidents. There is still hope, however, by taking certain measures we can considerably reduce the amount of lives lost. One idea is to start putting sensors into people’s cars to find out how fast they were driving. Therefore, we can find out someone’s speed even if there were no cops in that area. This allows police stations to give tickets to people without actually having to be there, and it will crack down on speeding. We can do something similar for seatbelts as well to ensure that everyone is wearing it while driving. Another idea is to provide a better variety of safe transportation options. For instance, buses are a great way to travel and are usually safer than a car. The subway is also a brilliant alternative for driving in bigger cities. Both of these examples are much safer than cars and sometimes cheaper as well. However, we need more of them. I live right outside of the city of Detroit, and I do not think I could possibly put into words how badly we need a subway system. It would be a much cheaper and more efficient way to travel. It would reduce pollution significantly and would be so much safer than driving in a busy city. There are so many benefits by providing these safer options that it astounds me we have not done it yet.

One of my great aunts, Doreen, passed away while she was running on the sidewalk when a reckless driver hit her. The driver did not even have the decency to stop and check on her, they just left. Doreen did nothing wrong and yet was killed because of a thoughtless, selfish driver. Imagine how great her life would have been if that driver did not take it from her and was responsible. Imagine how many lives could be saved if everyone drove responsibly. Our world would be such a better place.

Big differences can be made from little acts. If people were just a little bit more careful or drove a little bit slower, imagine how much safer driving would be. I get that sometimes you get so wrapped up in getting to where you need to go that you put being safe on the backburner. I do it too sometimes. But, we have to be conscious about how we are driving to make sure other people and ourselves will be safe. It doesn’t just stop with you though, you have to make sure everyone around you is being safe as well. It can even be as simple as telling a friend not to text and drive. Ensuring your friends and family drive responsibly not only increases their safety but also other people’s as well.