Responsibility On the Road

Responsibility
On The Road

I remember watching
the end scenes to movies like Fast and the Furious 7 where Vin Diesel
and Caleb Walker rode into the sunset at the end of the movie. I just
remember imagining the freedom they felt; the wind in my hair,
nothing but open road ahead, and the option to go wherever I wanted.
After receiving a driver’s license I could finally see it all coming
together, just steps closer to taking those long car rides and
feeling free, all because I’d learned the rules of the road.
Although I had obtained the freedom to take these journeys I also had
a responsibility to the road, along with my own life I was
responsible for making sure that I considered others while on the
road. I had to drive knowing that even the slightest mistake of ,not
being aware could end in the injury of myself and others, and in the
worst case death.

One step that can be
taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is changing
the social norm around those who have not yet obtained the necessary
amount of information to be on the road. Currently there are many
under aged and uneducated and some of the reason this is, is due to
the social norm that those who are
unlicensed are looked down upon by those who aren’t. They
lack the freedom that those who do have their documentation have,
which leads to those without proper documentation driving. Although
those without proper documentation aren’t solely to blame for deaths
related to driving they do take up unnecessary lives. In order to
change this we need to come together and rather than looking down on
those without their license we should focus on encouraging those to
take the classes and learn the rules to the road. By doing this we
relieve the pressure for others to feel that they have to drive to be
included.

I myself have taken
part in feeling the pressure from others and taken matters into my
own hands. Before obtaining my license I remember how I used to be
teased by my older brother about how he could drive and leave where
he wanted and I could not. I ended up building this frustration and
began lying when being offered to drive stating I knew how to.
Although I had studied videos on what to do in the car, some things
can’t be learned from videos. When hitting a sharp turn at a street
light I sped up too fast and popped the car’s tire. This experience
scared not only me but those in the car with me. Due to my reckless
driving without the proper knowledge and experience although it may
have just been a popped tire I put myself and the life of the people
in the car in danger.