Safety is the First Priority

Safety
is the First Priority

It
takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. So decades of
experience behind the wheel makes a professional driver, right? Turns
out, there’s no such thing as a “professional” driver; nobody
is exempt from the dangers of the road. Adolescent drivers with
little experience need to take extra priority in mastering the
operation of a vehicle to ensure the safety of everyone on the road.

Bull
riding is an immensely dangerous sport, only tackled by the most
daring competitors. It may look fun from behind a television screen,
but unless you’ve had the proper training and experience, you have
no chance against those powerful beings. Just a few seconds of
freedom and you could easily be slammed to the ground, stepped on,
practically torn apart. The same principle applies to driving; unless
you have completed an approved drivers ed course, a short
time on the open road could put you in a very tricky situation.
Proper understanding of the rules of the road and vehicle functions
puts drivers in a better position to handle unforeseen circumstances.
Learning to drive is an exciting benchmark of freedom in the lives of
many adolescents, but it must be taken seriously.

To
prevent more driving fatalities from occurring, education must take
precedence. Parents can play a role in this process by starting a
conversation with their children about the consequences of drunk
driving and distracted driving, both of which can be equally as
fatal. Educating young drivers is key to ensure they understand the
responsibility that comes with navigating the streets.

I
was surprised, one day, to see a social media post from one of my
close friends, detailing an accident she had been in just moments
ago. A picture revealed her boyfriend’s totaled truck, which had
crashed into a pole after he had weaved off of the road to avoid a
head-on collision. Thankfully everyone walked away with nothing more
than some cuts and bruises, but things could have ended much worse.

There
are steps we can all take to prevent driving accidents. Remember to
“keep your head on a swivel”, as my dad always told me. You never
know when a pedestrian may decide to cross the street, or when
another vehicle will attempt to merge into the flow of traffic. You
may not be able to control the actions of others, but you can control
how you handle it.

A
prepared driver is a safe driver. Plan ahead of time where you will
be going and how you will get there. For example, a driver looking at
a phone for directions or attempting to change lanes at the last
second will put their life and other lives at risk.

By
choosing to be intentional in our driving safety habits, we can
minimize the risk we pose to other drivers. Adolescent drivers can
experience true freedom when safety is the first priority.