How Simple Education Saves Lives

As a teenager who has been driving for over a year, I have experienced instances that have shown me the importance of being a safe driver as well as a focused one. It is important to emphasize, especially for teenagers, what raises the risk of being involved in a car accident as well as death from car crashes. Drivers need to learn the importance of not being distracted on their phones or being under the influence while driving. 13% of all car crashes that resulted in death stem from distracted driving, while 30% of car crashes resulting in fatalities are from being under the influence. It is important to educate our community members and families on this topic because children are losing parents, guardians, and other family members. Parents are also losing their own children because of the lack of education and smart decisions drivers are making. Americans are losing their lives too early from car accidents and it is important to educate every driver on how to prevent them. I believe that the first steps have already been taken, introducing different ride options like Uber and Lyft. While they can be expensive, it is better than taking the risk of driving under the influence or with someone under the influence to get home. I believe that the next step we need to take is to educate our young drivers in schools to show them the importance of safe driving and how to be safe while they begin driving. The age group that sees the most car accidents is between 16-17. New drivers are the ones causing the most accidents, which is why I believe that an important step that needs to be taken is to start educating young drivers in the school system like how they are educated on different aspects of life like personal health or financial literacy. If we continue to educate our younger generations each year on the importance of safe driving, the number of car crashes and fatalities should start to see a decrease. It will take time, but it is an important step we need to take to become safe drivers. An incident that occurred recently to a family member of mine showed me that Americans, especially teenagers, need education on safe driving. In the fall after one of my high school soccer practices, my brother got into the car with his friend to get something to eat after practice. I decided not to go and was planning on driving myself home. As they were leaving the lot, they decided to go very fast around a bend right outside the parking lot and It had just rained and the ground was slick. They took the bend too fast and skidded off the road, sending them down a hill and crashing into the side of a house about a quarter of the way down the hill. Luckily for them, they only suffered minor injuries. On top of the issue that they could have severely harmed themselves, was that the family of the house they ran into was outside during this with their young child of around 5 years old. They narrowly avoided hitting the family and almost ruined not only their lives, but an innocent families’ life. It was an experience I took to heart and will never forget watching my brother and his friend fly off the road and down a hill, listening to the crunching sound of the car hitting into the house down the hill. It was a miracle no one was harmed in the accident and the only issue being a totaled car and slight damage to the house they ran into. The steps I take to be a better driver is to always be aware of my surroundings while on the road and not even looking at my phone until the car is parked. I try to have my friends and teammates do the same thing, as some of them have either just gotten their license or are about to. To show them the importance of being safe, I tell them the story of my brother and his friend and that it is not going to make you seem cool if you speed around in your car, it will only raise the risk of being in a car accident. On top of that, I always tell them that if they are not fit to drive or someone under the influence is trying to drive them home, I will always come get them no matter what time it is. It is important to educate everyone in your life and community on safe driving because you never know if that small reminder to be safe will be the difference between them being able to come home to their loved ones or not.