Safety and Driving

I always believe that education is important. Driver education is especially important because without the proper knowledge of driving a vehicle, someone can not only put themselves in danger but also the lives of others. Without education, there is ignorance.

Having and maintaining required driving tests is important to enforce. I like the idea that young adults should study for their permit and keep the permit for one year. Within that year, the young driver gets the opportunity to get behind the wheel with the supervision of a licensed driver. They will make mistakes but at the very least, they can learn from those mistakes.

The steps needed to reduce deaths is to keep putting out the message that distracted drivers can be as harmful as drunk drivers. These messages can be put on social media, like YouTube which can pop up as ads. The marketing team can come up with three different scenarios that may help reduce distracted driving and drunk driving. The first scenario that discourages distracted driving is showing a teenager around their age, getting into their car and driving on the road. As viewers, we see the driver repeatedly look down at his/her phone and replying to texts, even when driving on the highway. Suddenly, the car in front swerves to the left, revealing a broken-down vehicle that is in the right lane. Our driver sees this broken-down vehicle but it is too late, too late to react. Our driver quickly jerks the wheel to the right, missing the broken-down vehicle but hitting a tall pole instead. In the last scene, we see an ambulance driver applying a bandage to our driver. Our driver groans in pain and quickly looks at his vehicle. The vehicle is totaled.

Another scenario that discourages distracted driving is to show a group of late teens/early 20s adults taking a road trip. Everyone in the car is laughing and having a fun time, including the driver. The person in the passenger seat is taking photos of everyone. Everyone in the back seat huddles together and smiles for the picture. The driver, a guy in his 20s, becomes curious and looks away from the road, trying to be included in picture. The person in the passenger seat advises our driver to be careful and stay focused on the road. The driver smiles and ignores the remark, taking out his phone and telling everyone to smile for the picture. Everyone huddles up for the picture, except for the woman in the passenger seat. She shakes her head in disagreement. She returns her attention back to the road and sees the upcoming danger. She yells to the driver and the driver quickly turns his attention back to the road. By then, it is too late to react. The car has crashed, with the airbags popping out in slow motion. Cut to later and we see everyone standing outside the car and looking around, concerned and sad. The driver, dejected, looks at the Toyota Corolla he hit and the bumper is smashed. He turns his attention to the EMT rolling away a young child, 12, to the back of the ambulance truck. The young child is wearing an oxygen mask. Next to the child are the loving parents who are holding the child’s hands for support. Our attention is back to our main character/driver when he receives a notification on his phone. He opens his phone and sees that he received a like on his group photo.

In the last scenario, we could educate everyone on the downsides of drunk driving. A drunk driver can be a huge hazard on the road because a drunk driver doesn’t have full control of their inhibitions. They’re not as alert and conscious of everything happening on the road. Being a responsible driver requires for someone to stay focused, expect the unexpected. The scenario could play out showing someone exiting a bar, clearly drunk and stumbling towards his vehicle. He gets inside the car and drives off. The driver, for a while, keeps good control of the vehicle, but then gets more tired. From his POV, we see the street become less and less clear, as the driver tries and fails to keep himself awake. He pulls over, without knowing where he is, and turns the car off to sleep. The next morning, he awakes to a constant knocking on his window. He turns to look and sees a cop, nodding for him to roll down his window. The driver does so and asks the officer if everything is ok. The officer smiles and shakes his head. He motions for the driver to look to his right. We then see that the driver’s car has the cop’s car blocked in.

I myself have not been in a car accident or have seen any of my friends driving irresponsibly, but I always like to remind myself not to become distracted and to avoid responding to any texts until I’m either safely parked somewhere or I have arrived at my destination. I believe the right ads that discourage any drunk or distracted driving will be beneficial for any child or adult to see.