The Road to Safety

Every year, thousands of new drivers begin to take the wheel. Some have never driven or only researched the bare minimum to pass the online course and the in-person driver’s test. The books you receive on “How to Drive” only teach you the basics of driving. Such as switching lanes, who has the right of way, and what road signs signify, but one thing they don’t teach is responsibility. Every person who drives has a duty to watch out for their own safety as well as others. There’s a certain stigma and cool factor for those who ignore the rules of the road. If you can weave in and out of traffic and not crash, they feel they can continue doing so without repercussions. Even if there are repercussions, getting your license back after driving habitually like a maniac is way too easy. I believe the way to fix this is to make those who are truthfully responsible work for their licenses. Over the pandemic, many states had you take an online test without needing in-person driving. This makes me question how many people who are truthfully responsible received a license. Since the pandemic ended, many states have returned to in-person driving tests, but it seems that is not enough. They should make driving school a mandatory class for every single driver and focus more on teaching defensive techniques. It’s nice to learn how to parallel park or make a U-turn. Still, we need to teach more defensive techniques so that when an accident does arise, you can be ready to protect yourself and others from a critical injury or, even worse, a fatality. Many companies are catching onto creating driving assist sensors, but this also gives people way too much comfort relying only on the sensors to stop them from causing an accident. Despite this, responsibility still needs to be reinforced.

A great example would be a family member who believes it’s okay to speed. He claims it is okay because he has sensors that will automatically stop him from crashing into another car and slow down once he gets too close. But there are countless examples online via Youtube where people get so comfortable with these new luxuries and still commit a fatal car crash or fall asleep behind the wheel. Driving assist is a good starting point, but as humans, we are too reliant on technology and gimmicky features to keep us safe. Not everyone has the funds to purchase a car with all of these gimmicks. So driver education and positively reinforced driving is the leading way we can reduce the number of accidents. Whether it be adding more defensive driving into courses, extending courses, or even raising the age at which people can get behind the wheel. I believe society has to do its due diligence to punish those who think it’s fun or okay to drive relentlessly. Even though we have laws enforced, they are not enough to deter bad driving habits. The government should push the idea of being stricter on bad driving.

Luckily I have a father who’s an excellent defensive driver. He’s taught me many techniques when I drive making sure I’m building up positive road habits. I always check my mirrors and ensure crossing lanes is safe. My father makes me drop all distractions until I get to my destination. As he likes to say, sending a text or reading an email is not worth your life or someone else’s. In the past, there used to be advertisements that would try to target those who use cell phones while driving. However, if you hop in the car today and stop at a red light, you will see bad driving habits. Such as people trying to multitask, focusing on a road accident, looking in the back seat, putting on makeup, changing songs, eating while driving, or simply focusing on everything except driving. Suppose people took these small steps to focus on driving as my father instilled in me and worried about other things later on. In this case, there would be fewer accidents because most accidents recorded are due to people’s ignorance and non-environmental awareness.

In conclusion, we should focus on safer driving, and states should reinforce these habits. By pushing harsher laws on those who are irresponsible and making people truly work to get a license. Another saying my father likes to repeat is that driving is a privilege, not a right. So it’s about time society looks in that way instead of looking at driving to get from point A to point B faster.