2 Ton Machines

Driving. It’s seen as a normal daily activity that people should know how to do to succeed. However, does anyone think about how complicated and truly scary driving is? I mean think about it you are inside a 2-ton metal shape with wheels traveling 40mph down slabs of pavement with other 2-ton vehicles all around you. Maybe you think you’re a good driver, but you can never be sure of what the vehicles around you are thinking. People learn how to drive in all kinds of ways, some learn from their parents, some are self-taught, and some take driver’s education courses. Most say that the way you learn to drive doesn’t matter, but I disagree. I feel taking driver education classes, whether it be online or in person, makes people safer and overall better drivers.

Research has shown that people that have taken driver’s education have been involved in fewer crashes and received fewer traffic tickets than those who haven’t taken driver’s education courses. I took driver’s education classes in person, and I feel it’s made me a more responsible driver. I thought I knew how to drive before I took the classes, but man was I wrong. Drivers’ education helps teach young adults about different road signs, how to properly control a vehicle, and what to do in case of an emergency/traffic stop. While in driver’s education courses, students take both a written exam and have practice drives with an instructor, although some instructors are harsh it’s best to drive with them, so they’ll show you exactly the rights and wrongs of the road. Driver’s Education shows videos of the worst that can happen when driving, including fatal accidents. Drivers Education shows you how to follow the rules and I feel when you follow the rules in the beginning, you’ll continue following them for the rest of your life.

Most fatal accidents to this day are caused by the mistakes of a driver. Drunk driving is the leading cause with a whopping 11,654 road fatalities during 2020 according to Forbes Advisor. How can we stop drunk driving? Many ask this question and yet there isn’t a secure way to do it because people are human and won’t always follow the rules in place. However, there are ways to minimize drunk driving. They could have clubs/bars hire taxi/uber services and have vehicles outside ready to take people home safely or they could train bartenders to look for the signs of somebody who plans to drive themselves home after a night of drinking and warn the bouncers/security to be on the lookout for them. Another leading factor in road fatalities is distracted driving. One example of distracted driving would be people that use their phones when driving. Some ways to help decrease distracted driving would be to have phones automatically set up to be in “car mode” where they can only be used for important phone calls and nothing else.

I have seen many friends/family members participate in reckless driving. I can never understand why they would put their lives and others in danger over something as little as watching a TikTok or even texting while driving. I always warn them of the dangers and luckily none of them have been in accidents and I am grateful for that, but I do hope that they change their ways. I have never been involved in an accident however I have been on the scene of an accident to help treat the people involved in the crash. It was scary, the person at fault for the accident was on their phone while driving and didn’t notice they had a red light. They slammed into an innocent couple and hurt the passenger to the point of her groaning/screaming in pain whenever she had to move. We had to carefully move her onto the stretcher for fear of her having a fractured hip, we had to administer an IV and give pain medicine as she couldn’t stop groaning due to the pain. We had to continue talking to her so she wouldn’t pass out and I could see that she wasn’t doing well as all the color in her face had gone away. Sadly, it wasn’t only the passenger in the other car that got hurt but also the passenger in the car that caused the accident. Both passengers from each car were sent and admitted to the hospital, luckily neither of their conditions were too serious and the crash had no fatalities. This crash showed me that driving can be very dangerous and that to protect your loved ones and strangers you should always be aware of your surroundings and stay focused on the task at hand, driving.

I feel I am a safe and responsible driver not just thanks to my experience with driver’s education courses but also thanks to my vehicle. However, there is always more I can do to be safer. I can do better in time management so I won’t have to be going over the speed limit to work or school and I can put away my distracting items like my phone and snacks into a bag while I drive so I won’t be tempted to use them. The decisions of how others drive and what they do while driving isn’t up to me but I could try to influence them to be safer while driving by introducing them to statistics about how texting while driving could endanger them.