Not Just Another Driver

When I was 15, I took my first driver’s education class. I remember I would always watch videos on safety while driving and things we should watch out for. I always thought this class was boring and it was useless. The more attention I paid to the class I realized that these are things people should really listen to. I believe these classes should be more interactive and really enforced. Then I failed my first test to receive my permit. I was so devastated because I was so excited to get on the road. There was a chance to retake the quiz and I did just that. There were a few people who were clearly cheating and I thought, ‘maybe I should have cheated too; when you drive you stop when the traffic lights turn red and go when the lights turned green, but driving is more complex than this.

A few months ago a U-Haul crashed into my family and I. It was not a bad hit but regardless it was scary to think what would happen if my mom did not react as fast as she did. I was constantly thinking about the ‘what if’s’. My father soon started to teach me how to drive. I remember I was driving and there was a car who just passed when my light turned green but I didn’t notice. I realized you have to pay a lot more attention than you think. You have to look to your sides and back, not just straight, you have to think what the other driver is thinking.

If more people did this I strongly agree that more people will avoid accidents. Accidents are something that should be reduced because the people getting in accidents aren’t just people; they are someone’s mom, sister, aunt, or wife. They are more than just a person driving. Accidents don’t always result in deaths but it can cause anxiety, fear, and guilt. Fear that if you did not react as fast as you did something worse can happen. Anxiety because now you are going to overthink every move you make while driving. Lastly, guilt, you will feel guilty that maybe you could have injured someone and there is no way of taking that back.

People will always try to pass you even when you are driving correctly. We as a society always have the need to make ourselves feel better than over people so we tend to also speed when many people are passing. Regardless of who is passing us, we should remain calm and keep going at the pace we are required to go. At the end of the day you will get to your destination if you are careful with your driving.

You also have to be confident. Even if your friends make fun of you because of how close you are to the steering wheel or get mad because you close the sunroof because you can’t see. You have to make sure you’re comfortable driving and you can reach all the pedals. You may look silly but your safety should come before your image. You should also know the three rules I follow before driving off. First, make sure you have your seatbelt on, secondly, make sure you can reach all the pedals and lastly, make sure you can look clearly through all your mirrors.

People don’t always look at the mirrors and are aware of their surroundings but YOU can be aware of your surroundings. There was an incident where we were in this lady’s blind spot and she hit our car attempting to merge onto the other lane. She ended up scraping all of the left side of our car and knocking off the bumper. She did not react as fast as she should. Luckily my dad realized she was gonna hit us and did not move. Him paying attention to other cars around us instead of looking at his phone caused us to not have a much greater accident.

We should always be aware of people around us and try to see what they’re next move can be. We should always try to be as safe as we can, especially when we have other passengers in the cars who will not expect it. It is your responsibility to take them from point A to point B safely. Driving is a big responsibility that unfortunately, is given to the wrong people, but others can do the best they can to be safe for not just themselves, but also their passengers.