Don’t Text and Drive

Driver education is important because there are so many drivers who don’t follow simple rules such as following the speed limit. For example I see so many drivers speed down residential areas while I’m walking my dog and it confuses me as to why people think it’s okay to drive 40 mph on a residential street. In driving school, you learn that the speed limit for residential streets is 25 mph. I feel that sometimes most drivers could use a refresher course in speed limits. What’s even scarier is they don’t even slow down when they are driving by pedestrians.

The worst I’ve seen on the highway is lane weaving, where drivers just weave in and out of lanes, passing left and right with no blinker. When they are doing this it’s because they are in a rush and don’t even give people the opportunity to move over for them so they just pass on the right while the driver in front of them is making a plan to move over. People also don’t remember that you should stay to the right except to pass, so there are people who drive slowly in the left lane so others pass on the right. This actually causes traffic on top of being a safety issue. If only people could follow simple rules such as not speeding and staying in the appropriate lanes then there would be less accidents which create traffic for everyone else. Everytime I’m stuck for hours on the highway I think of those who caused the traffic, and it’s usually related to bad, improper driving and/or speeding. Those who are in a rush just delay themselves with an accident or even worse, death. I’ve never seen an accident happen in front of me but I’ve passed by many wrecks and the damaged cars plus amount of debris scattered around the road is enough to cringe and feel horrible for the people involved. If only those drivers could take into consideration, their lives as well as the lives around them then there would be more consideration on the road and less reckless driving that cause so many deaths.

Summer is about to start and the road to beaches will be packed every week. Last year there were so many accidents that occurred on the New Jersey Parkway that there was constant traffic and most times, standstills because emergency vehicles and law enforcers had to stop traffic, in both directions in most cases. I’m excited for the summer but I definitely dread the traffic that will not only be caused by congestion but accidents as well.

There are also way too many accidents that are linked to texting and driving. I realize that not too many years ago, we as a society got by just fine without communicating until our destination. There’s no need to text “almost there” or “on my way”, it’s evident that it’s going to happen, especially if there is no texting while driving. When driving, I always put my phone on silent and I know my family and friends do not expect an answer from me right away. In fact, if they don’t get a response they automatically assume that I am driving. And I don’t expect them to answer me in case I happen to text them while they are driving. Another reason people look at their phones while driving is to look up directions or their music. People need to learn in driving school that extra prep time for directions and music selection must occur before turning the key. Last December, my friend and I went skiing for the day, she decided to put a playlist that was not to my liking, at all! When I asked if we could switch the music, an hour into the drive, she proceeded to look down at her phone to see if she could switch. My intention was for her to let me look through her phone for other music, but she wanted to do it herself. I told her that it didn’t matter and to just leave it, this led to another hour of Country Music that I had to endure. It was still better than her looking down while driving on the highway. a

The steps I can take to be a better and safer driver is to constantly be aware of not just my driving but the driving of everyone else around me. To stay to the right except to pass, to stay off my phone and to have my directions in tact before I start my trip so that I don’t have to look down while driving. I will also correct my friends’ driving if they speed or drive erratically. They probably will not be happy with me, but I hope and expect to get to each of my destinations safely.