Responsibility on the Road

Responsibility
on the Road

Driver
education plays a crucial role in breeding safe and responsible
drivers. Drivers ed not only instructs on the rules of the road
and how to drive safely, but it also instills a sense of
responsibility. It teaches students that they are responsible for
their lives, and the lives of others while on the road. Each driver
plays an essential rule in keeping our streets safe.

Distracted
driving is the number one cause of car accidents in the U.S. today.
As we live in a digital age with increasing reliance on, and
addiction to technology, it is not surprising that drivers are
distracted, resulting in terrible accidents. To lessen the effect of
this growing problem education is important as well as action.
Turning mobile devices on silent, or installing apps that silence all
notifications and cellular distractions while driving can help reduce
the number of deaths caused by distracted driving.

Another
leading cause of deaths as a result of driving is reckless driving
and drunk driving. To remedy this we need to encourage responsibility
and good habits. Instead of promoting drinking and alcohol through
commercials, movies and other forms of entertainment, we should
promote safety and sobriety, especially in our youth.

Unfortunately
for some, this lesson may come too late. In January of this year, a
friend of mine was leaving school to get something to eat with four
other passengers in the car. He was a junior operator and known for
being reckless. He was speeding and ran a red light, hitting another
car and injuring everyone inside the car with him. One of the
students had a concussion, another had a broken femur bone, and
another student had been thrown forward onto the dashboard with
serious injuries to her face. Each student has since recovered, but
the emotional scars they have run deep, especially for the driver. He
was taught a grave and valuable lesson that day. He had put his life
and his friend’s lives at stake by driving recklessly and does not
want to experience such fear and pain again.

I
hope that this has taught him to be responsible, to think of others.
As for my own part in preventing deaths as a result of driving, I
will turn my phone on silent while behind the wheel and I will not
drive with passengers other than my twin brother and father until I
am ready to take on that responsibility. I will encourage my friends
and peers to silence their phones, to drive cautiously, and try to
avoid driving with more than two passengers in the car. By making
these decisions and educating drivers on the rules of the road as
well as our own role in keeping it safe, we can build and protect a
safer society.