Spacing Out vs Safety Win

There is a belief
when you are young that you are invincible. This is a dangerous
mindset. It inspires wondrous stories but harsh realities in its
outcomes.

Take driving, for
example. My brother sees the action as a representation of freedom. I
know freedom means nothing if I do not know how to keep my peers
safe. Freedom can to guilt and regret in a split second. This is why
drivers ed is vitally important. To inform us of the
technicalities upholding safety.

If you think about
how we approach driving in the modern day, you realize there are many
loopholes that can make being on the road dangerous again. If cell
phone use was limited to hands free use, drivers with temperamental
children were required to have a caregiver in the car, and noise
levels were limited then would be fewer crashes. There would be fewer
deaths related to driving.

I have seen my mom
losing focus while driving. Her eyes glazed over, becoming unfocused
as I glanced up from my book. I was 11. We slammed into a guard rail
as the wheel turned left instead of right. I had shock and fear at
what had occurred. Distracted driving had nearly harmed us. I shook
for the rest of that day, aware of how close that hit had come. My
mother sat in the car, staring at the steering wheel and breathing
hard. She still has occasional spirts of discomfort when asked to
drive.

To be a safer
driver, I can select where to focus my attention. I can ignore
distractions and turn off my phone until I arrive where I am driving.
I can be a backseat driver when someone else is driving. Correction
that is annoying is better and preferable to me than other outcomes.
If a comment avoids the death of a family member or loves friend,
then it is worth speaking up.