Take a Second and Save a Life

Take
a Second and Save a Life

By:
Henry Holien

34,000
dreams that won’t be reached, 34,000 hearts lost, 34,000 people gone.
The amount of vehicle related deaths in the United States each year
is alarmingly high. And it’s a number we have to work on bringing
down. These deaths are unnecessary, and with the proper education and
attention we can save lives and make our roads safer. People believe
that it can never happen to them. They believe that they are “above
the data” somehow and that checking that one text while on the
freeway won’t cause any harm. There are always a million reasons why
you should take that call, send that text or read that instagram post
and the reasons why you shouldn’t are quickly overlooked and
forgotten. But even before you get on the road, a much more important
and necessary step must be taken, and that is drivers ed.

Driver’s
education is important in not only teaching people how to drive but
also it shows people how big of a responsibility driving is and how
you hold your life and so many others’ in your hands. It’s
impossible to know how many lives drivers ed saves but it
would be in the millions. Without it the streets would be a chaotic
bloodbath of people unaware of how to drive and how to be safe.
Drivers ed is not about simply learning how to drive but
rather learning how to be safe driving.

In
order to reduce the number of fatalities that occur from driving
accidents, more has to be done in combating distracted driving.
Phones are not a rare thing to see anymore they are a constant and
one that has to be addressed with alacrity and seriousness. States
have started implementing hands free laws which is a good first step
in this battle. The next step is to raise fines and consequences when
caught with distracted driving and to enforce the law more often. I
believe another step to make our roads safer is to have mandatory
drivers ed refresher courses when someone receives 2 or more moving
violations. All of these things would go into saving countless lives
and preventing hundreds of accidents across the United states.

In
December of last year I was in my first and only car crash. I was not
driving and it was not our fault. It was in the middle of a snowstorm
and a car couldn’t stop and drove through a red light and hit us.
Although it wasn’t too serious it was still very alarming and really
gave me insight into how quickly an accident can happen. I think that
I can improve my driving by being more cautious especially in the
snow. Just taking it slow because that extra second and that extra
precaution you take, however small, can save lives.