In Honor of Mari: Drive Safely

Kamari “Mari” Perry was a 16 year old basketball player from Randolph, MA who everybody loved. He had a smile so bright and an amazing sense of humor no one could take away from him. On July 13th of 2023 Mari was riding his moped down Route 24 in Brockton, MA and as he was switching lanes he collided with a car behind him and was thrown from his bike. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Kamari was such a joy in everyone’s life who knew him, including mine. Kamari’s death was a wake up call for me and hopefully others to drive responsibly.

Living in Massachusetts, we are known for our reckless driving and accidents resulting in death are unfortunately very common, because people aren’t educated on how dangerous these vehicles we drive can be. I’ve taken driver’s ed when I was 16 and I took it seriously and I am extremely cautious behind the wheel. This is because I’ve seen how irresponsible driving can change someone’s life forever. However, not everyone is able to afford driver’s ed. My driving school cost $800 for 30 hours of classroom lessons, 6 hours of observation, and 12 hours of practice. That’s expensive, but if driving schools were required to lower their costs more young people would probably sign up and learn why it’s important to drive safely.

As a teenager I know many teens are over-confident and don’t see the serious dangers in driving. I know Mari was like this. He always told me he was good and that he’ll always be safe, never once thinking about the dangers there are on the road. Whenever you would part ways with Mari he would always tell you to be safe. If I hadn’t gone to driving school I wouldn’t know of the serious dangers that driving can cause either. Of course everybody knows about car accidents, but nobody thinks it will happen to them until it does so they’re not careful.

I also don’t think one driver’s ed course at 16 is enough for a lifetime of driving. People need to be reminded to be safe. Most people usually only drive safely to prove to a road test examiner that they’re a safe driver then drive recklessly on their own now that they’ve secured their license. I see it constantly when teens my age love to record themselves behind the wheel then post it on Instagram not paying attention at all to the road in front of them. After lowering the cost of driver’s ed, I think it should be required again every 3-5 years to remind everyone regardless of age how important it is to remain safe on the roads.

Afterwards, I think all states should implement the Hands-Free Law. This means driver’s are not allowed to use any electronic devices unless they are in hands-free mode. Not all states have banned the use of hand-held phone use and some states haven’t even banned the use of telephones for teenagers. I think this stems from lawmakers being careless. Nobody thinks about the risks there really are when having to drive. My grandmother always tells me as a new driver: “Drive to save your life and other people’s lives” because normal as it is to just drive it’s not always safe. We need to remember that anytime we are on the road we’re at risk of danger and we should drive accordingly.

Something I know I can do personally to become a better driver is to slow down mentally. I don’t exceed the speed limit but my brain is usually in such a rush to get to my destination that I distract myself and don’t pay attention to the things around me like checking my blind spots, making sure that the road is clear for me to turn safely into an intersection, not feeling pressured by cars behind me to speed up when I really don’t have to. Sometimes it only takes one careless mistake, something you may not even think of to cause a collision. So definitely being more aware and attentive is important for me.

I don’t know what happened the night Mari passed away but I know it probably could have been avoided. It’s not Mari’s fault he couldn’t afford the outrageous cost driver’s ed. I don’t know many people who can. He was just a teen doing what teens like to do, riding his bike. I hope his story is a true reminder of why we all should drive to save our lives as well as others.