Cars were created so that our lives could be lived more efficiently, not more excitingly

Cars
were created so that our lives could be lived more efficiently, not
more excitingly

According
to ‘Driver Knowledge’ there about 6 million car accidents in the
United States every year, and about 30,000 of those crashes result in
deaths according to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
It is because of statistics like this that we must continue to
educate drivers of how to commute safely.

Drivers
Education is in place to inform future and current drivers on how to
establish habits that will minimize the possibility of car accidents.
In doing this drivers ed also enlightens drivers to things that
increase the possibility of getting into a car accident. While these
efforts are helpful unfortunately some drivers seem to ignore the
advised protocols thus not only putting their own lives at risk but
also the lives of those that they share the road with. So while I
think that drivers ed should still be implemented I don’t
see things get much better if that is the only thing in the way of 6
million car accidents. I believe that the uprising of advanced
technology in automobiles is the greatest solution to decreasing that
huge number of annual car accidents. Things like auto-breaking
becoming more common in vehicles may serve as a counter to people who
still decide to text and drive.

Aside
from things like texting while driving, driving under the influence
of drugs and/or alcohol are equally if not more dangerous. I
personally have had firsthand experience with being in a car where
the driver was under the influence. As a freshman and sophomore, I
had to look to upperclassmen for rides to thigs like band practice.
Unfortunately, the unspoken ‘cool’ thing to do was to get high
and speed down back roads; so, one day I was getting a ride back home
from practice and the driver of the car was smoking weed. I didn’t
say anything because it was his car and he claimed that it had not
affect on his ability to drive. Well we were about two minutes from
my house when he dropped the bud on the floor of his car, but instead
of keeping his eyes on the road like any normal person would he kept
one hand on the steering wheel so that he could search the floor for
the bud of course this meaning that his eyes were not at all on the
road. As a result we almost ran into a stop sign, I had to tell him
to pull over and let me out because the situation had let me know
that I was not in fact safe with him in control of the vehicle. I
walked home that night and never got a ride from him a gain.

In
that arc of a story one could argue that him being high was not the
cause of the near accident I was in; however, it is evident that he
was distracted. This is what makes texting while driving so
dangerous, it is so distracting. So ‘What
steps can you take to be a better and safer driver as well as help
others become safer on the road?’, eliminate distractions. Weather
that be removing your phone from reach when you’re in the drivers
seat or not calling or texting family and friends when you know they
are on the road.