Drugs and Driving

October
24^th,
2019 is the day my life changed forever. I was finishing my shift at
my job and It was ten at night, normally my mother picks me up from
work, so I was just about to text her to tell her to pick me up. This
guy texted me to see if I wanted to hang out with him. Of course, at
the time I was an individual who wanted to be out on a Friday night,
I said yes, texting my mom I’d be home shortly. 

Upon
meeting him, he drove to a park where we ended up smoking drugs. We
ended up going to McDonalds as we got hungry. This where things took
a turn, while he was driving he was swerving into parked cars, almost
hitting them head on before he would swerve into the other side of
the road. Quickly, I realized the danger in this situation as fear
replaced my clouded judgement. I can’t recall an incident where I
was scared for my life and as he arrived at the end of my street, I
felt nauseous but thankful I survived that ride home. 

I
look back at this situation and realize I had put my life into
jeopardy, and I could’ve caused suffering for my family and friends
if a collision were to occur that night and resulted in my death. I
don’t take it for granted what happened. Speaking as a teen,
teenage drivers, often think we’re invincible, but we’re the
opposite of being invincible, and realizing this I’m a better
driver than I was before this situation. There’s a reason behind
speed limits on roads, and exceeding the speed limit puts not only
you but other drivers on the road in jeopardy. There’s a reason why
there’s stop signs, to effectively promote the movement of traffic.
Every rule on the road has reasons behind it.

It’s
important to implement drivers ed courses for the safety of
drivers on the road. The action of one driver can affect hundreds of
drivers traveling on that same road. There are specific steps I
believe to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, one of
which is an implementation of a driving safety course into high
school curriculums across the country. Exposure to good driving
habits under a federally mandated law will allow for a reduction in
accidents among young adults since their exposure to the potential
risks of driving would have frightened them, and I believe would make
them better drivers in the long run. Teens exposed to good driving
habits will continue to practice those practices for the rest of
their life. Teens exposed to the risks associated with buzzed driving
will help them in the future. For the general public, consumers
should choose automobiles with high safety marks for crash protection
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Consumer
Reports. Cars that are highly rated often have proven reliability to
reduce your chances of getting into a collision.