Decisive Driving

When I was younger, I used to be afraid of planes. I had heard all about the dangers of flying; the flight attendant at the front of the plane taught me how to use an oxygen mask, how to safely get into “crash position”, and how to quickly evacuate the plane if need be. Walking up to my seat on my first ever plane ride, I thought to myself, I would rather drive than fly. Oh how wrong I was.

Driving is more dangerous than flying. For comparison reasons, I’ll give it to you like this: your chances of dying in a plane crash is one in over a million, however, your chances of dying in a car crash is almost two-hundred fifty times that. Don’t believe me? Look it up.

Now I am in no way saying that I won’t ever drive again because driving is inevitable. We cannot live in fear, but we can change the way we live by making decisions that will help humanity as a whole for the better. As someone who has personally been in a car accident that has very nearly caused multiple losses of life due to a driver under the influence of methamphetamine, I believe that steps should be taken in order to ensure public safety of those inside automobiles and out.

At this point in society, it isn’t a question of “if” you will get into a car accident but more of a question of “when”. Here are some reasons why this is so: drugs and alcohol (as mentioned before) absolutely hinder a person’s ability to drive safely, cellular devices (no matter how quick you may think the text will be) take 100% of a person’s attention away from the road, and other distractions (that typically come from the passenger’s seat) can also limit the driver’s ability to get the vehicle safely from one location to another. Notice how in not one of those reasons did I place blame on the vehicle itself. That’s because it isn’t the vehicle to blame, but the individual inside of it. Cars are a very large and expensive vessel for transportation, but the car doesn’t have the power to transport unless we give it to them.

With this, we are given a series of decisions each and every day. Question one: do I get in the car? If you have had any sort of substance that could impair judgment, vision, or alertness, then the answer should certainly be no. This question seems easy to answer by yourself, however, a lot of people need accountability. Accountability is found in others; use friends and family to help make discerning decisions whether or not people should get behind the wheel. If you’re going out, call an uber! Do not even give yourself the opportunity to get behind the wheel; take initiative before the opportunity even arises.

Let’s say you answer yes to the previous question. Now that you are in the car, I must pose another question: are you ready to drive? If your phone is in your hand then the answer is probably no. With this instance, accountability may be left to yourself if you are in the car alone. At this point you must make a decision, a decision that can alter your own or someone else’s life. You can decide to get everything you need to get done on your device and put it away (such as in a console or out of reach), or you can decide to be reckless and idiotic by continuing to do your business on your device while driving (putting everyone you pass at risk). Limiting or utterly removing distractions is the most important individual step a person can take when they are in a car. Distractions of any sort take a driver’s attention away from the road and, therefore, away from safety.

Here’s the kicker: you hold your own life and other people’s lives in your own hands when you get behind a wheel. You can make a decision to be behind the wheel at your best and full alertness and awareness, or you can decide to drive with no regard for life. You can live with happiness and peace knowing that you have never caused harm to another, or you can go about life hauling guilt every time you see a vehicle because it reminds you of the time you took a life. The decision is yours. The decision is ours! We as a whole need to make these decisions! We can take our lives in our own hands and protect others! We can limit death and live this life unafraid! If we decide to embrace safe decisions, we will live a life that we are meant to live! If we decide to be safe, so will others.