Name: Joseph Campione
From: Port Charlotte, Florida
Votes: 0
Joseph Campione
November 30, 2019
In the Driver’s
Seat Scholarship
“Drive
Safety”: Wise Words from Nonno
Whenever my family is gathered at the home of my Italian
grandparents, Nonna and Nonno, we enjoy delicious pasta meals and
conversations about their past experiences in their home country.
When our time spent at their house is nearing its end, each and every
person is guaranteed a goodbye hug and kiss from both grandparents,
but specifically each person who is getting behind the wheel of a car
parts off with two words from Nonno: “Drive Safety”. The use of
safety is indeed not a typo, just a quirk in my grandfather’s
speech.
In my home-state of
Florida, there is no law that requires you to receive driver’s
education prior to earning your driver’s license. I believe there
is a correlation in regard to new drivers and the car accidents they
get into. I genuinely think that if quality drivers ed was
provided to all newly licensed drivers, their death tolls would
significantly decline. I would consider myself a seasoned driver
after my 4 years of getting behind the wheel because of all of the
courses and firsthand experience I learned from at the beginning of
my driving career. After all of that, I know to have my full
attention on the road around me and am experienced enough to maneuver
and essentially avoid any hazards that present a danger to myself and
my passengers while other drivers who aren’t may freeze up and
collide in the same situation causing serious injury or fatalities
because of their inexperience. There are a lot of ways to reduce the
number of accidents and driving related deaths and that comes down to
properly being taught to drive offensively and defensively. A smart
way to do this would be the creation of a more advanced computer
simulation that would let drivers in training see and take part in
factors that cause deadly accidents such as: impairment due to drug
or alcohol use, and distractions from the usage of a cell phone. The
simulation should include different angles of impact in which
accidents happen in order to teach the users to be defensive and
aware from all perspectives. I wholeheartedly believe something like
this could prevent more new drivers from getting into avoidable car
accidents.
At the age of 13, I
was unfortunately involved in a high-speed yet avoidable rear end
collision on the interstate that was caused by a driver who was
distracted by her phone. Thankfully everyone involved was okay, but
the car of the other driver was totaled. I am grateful to have
learned to be a safe driver at such a young age and am proud of the
fact that I am trusted behind the wheel. A couple of things I would
recommend to future and newly licensed drivers to help them become
safer would be to: take a course taught by a professional, pull over
if you have to use your cell phone, and most importantly, be aware of
your surroundings and “drive safety”!
