Driver Education Initiative – Don’t Text and Drive

Ever
since I was seven years old, I couldn’t wait to get my driving
license, but I did not understand everything that was involved in
driving. Thankfully as I grew up, I became more educated about road
rules, signs and safety, however, the majority of Americans do not
take the time to learn about car safety. A car is seen as a tool to
getting places and while that is true, it is more than a simple tool.
A car is a 4,000-pound bomb that is controlled by a person and
without the proper education on how to handle it, it can lead to
numerous deaths including the drivers.

I
took Drivers ed during the summer when I was 15 and to this
day, I still use the stuff that my instructor taught. Those two weeks
were the most important part of my teenage life because I learned how
to apply what I knew in real-life situations in a safe environment.
My instructor was patient and chill which made me relaxed, allowing
me to focus on my driving. I did not learn everything in those two
weeks, but I learned everything I needed to drive safely and improve.
I firmly believe that everyone who gets their driver’s license should
be required to take a class because it can help reduce car-related
deaths.

Car
accidents have taken many people’s lives in recent years for many
reasons but a common one is the use of smartphones. When people look
at their phones, they are taking their eyes off the road for a few
seconds. A few seconds may seem small, but when traveling 60mph a lot
can happen in just a few seconds. Almost every American has done this
in their driving career including myself. Once when I was running
late for a volunteer event, I got an alert on Messenger from my
friend asking for the location of the event, so as I was driving I
started texting them not realizing that my car was halfway off the
road and headed into a ditch. Thankfully I was able to fix it, but
that’s not always the case for everyone.

While
phones are a problem, they are also the answer to reducing car
accidents. Many smartphones have ‘do not disturb ‘or ‘driving’
settings that can be enabled so that alerts will not pop up. I did
not realize this until one day when I texted my friend and
immediately got an automatic message that said “I’m driving with
Do Not Disturb While Driving turned on. I’ll see your message when
I get where I’m going.” I was so happy that my friend wasn’t
texting and driving that I didn’t care about receiving an immediate
response. People need to be aware of the dangers that texting could
lead and the tools available to help them from getting distracted by
their phones so that they can drive safely and arrive at their
destination without harming others or themselves.