Safety Behind the Wheel

During the first year of the pandemic, I was helping my aunt organize her home. She needed to run a few errands during that time, so she would take me with her for assistance. When my aunt was driving, I couldn’t help but notice some of the things she would do. For example, whenever she was about to approach a red, my aunt would continue driving fast until she was about to hit a stopped car in front of her. Then, that was when she would hit her brakes. Every time she would hit her brakes, the car would wobble around. It was almost like a cartoon! Another experience I had was from the same week. It was the second day of helping my aunt and I had to run an errand with her. While she was driving there was a man sitting on the sidewalk with his head in the road. My aunt didn’t notice this until she almost hit him. Luckily, her reaction time was quick enough to swerve around him into the other lane, and back to the lane she was in. Both of these cases could have been prevented if my aunt was aware of her surroundings. From that point on, I realized that there are a lot of irresponsible drivers who risk their lives and other people’s.

Driving is one of the most useful skills any individual can have. Driving is a common form of transportation in many countries and it can be faster than taking public transportation or walking. However, driving comes with a lot of responsibility—it’s dangerous. In 2022, there were 42,795 deaths due to car accidents. Just hearing that news makes it more nerve-racking to drive each day in fear of getting hit by someone. This information shows that many people drive irresponsibly risking their lives and the lives of other people. There need to be more precautions taken on driving to ensure the safety of the drivers, but also the civilians.

The first thing that should be taken into account is, everyone who plans on getting a driver’s license should take driver’s education. Driver’s education is the ultimate start to learning how to drive. In driver’s education, there are people specialized in teaching people how to drive to ensure that the students will be responsible. Driver’s education will teach students, not only how to drive, but how to make safe decisions on the road. It’s important that students pay attention to the instructors while they are teaching. Fail to pay attention, then the student will fail the course. It teaches students the real-life dangers of driving on the road. When a student fails a driver’s test, the main reason is, they weren’t driving safely. Now, it’s more likely that the student will be safe with the instructor since there’s a pair of breaks on the passenger side. However, when driving a regular car, there will be no brakes for the passenger to push when the driver is about to hit a civilian. If a student fails the driver’s test, they can always get a second or third chance to redeem themselves, but that won’t happen in real life.

The second thing to be taken into account is making sure the driver is fit to be driving. A common cause of irresponsible driving is driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Drivers who aren’t sober while driving tend to make decisions that leave them in regret. When someone isn’t sober, their brain isn’t wired enough to make them think safely. It’s vital to not take drugs or alcohol before driving. If that doesn’t happen to be the case, then there should be someone else with the driver that has a license and can take over when needed. If there isn’t another person, then the individual should wait a few hours until they are sober, or they could avoid doing drugs and drinking beforehand. Another cause of irresponsible driving is the emotional state the driver is in. When a driver is feeling stressed, angry, or sad, that can affect their driving skills. This can cause the driver to not be aware of their surroundings. To prevent this from happening, there are many things that can help the driver to relax. Some of the things the driver can do are listen to some relaxing music and drink lots of water to help them relax their mind and settle in the mood to be driving. If these steps don’t work and the driver is still feeling a strong surge of emotion, then the driver should pull over safely to calm done. When the driver has calmed down, they should carefully merge back into traffic and remain calm.

It’s important for people to know how to drive. Driving teaches people independence and responsibility. But in order to drive safely there are steps that must be taken first. Taking a driver’s education will help the driver know what to expect when driving by themselves. Staying sober will be safer for the driver, as they are able to make safe decisions. Staying calm and level-headed will help the driver be more aware of their surroundings. There are many ways to reduce the number of car accidents. With these steps, it will ensure the driver is making safe choices.