Driver’s Development

Jose
Felix

Youth
Forward Scholarship

March
18 2019

Driver
Development

Earlier
this year, there was a close friend of mine named Lily who had gone
through what others may endure in a nightmare. Lily is a 17 year old
girl who attends the same high school as me, University High
(Tolleson). The workload is tough so we don’t converse as much as
we used to, until one devastating night, when I got the news, and her
mother had died in a car crash due to another man under the
influence. Many of my peers were in tears to hear that some kind
woman who gave every part of herself to her family could be erased
from ever seeing her daughter grow up to be a wonderful woman.
Adjacently, Lily has to forever live with the pain of someone robbing
her mother’s life – the person she was closest to, her best friend.
Moreover, a plethora of inexcusable deaths have plagued to roads of
the United States for the last few years. Fear is striking the eyes
of many Americans on the road as crashes reported “14% higher than
four years ago” (NSC). Car crashes affect all kinds of people
everyday whether it be in traffic, on the news, or unfortunately in
the seat of your own vehicle. To prevent the furthering dangers on
the road Americans must consider how irresponsible choices drive
death numbers to go up the charts and a lack of substantial
advertisements to the general youth.

Technology
has become so accessible to all kinds of people from every age. Even
the smallest distraction at the wrong time could cause a
life-threatening mistake. Drivers are at risk when taking alcohol or
being on their cell phone.

According
to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are three primary
types of driver distraction: taking one’s hands off the wheel,
taking one’s eyes off the road and taking one’s mind off driving.
When a driver interacts with a cell phone – texting, video streaming,
emailing – it takes his eyes off the road for several seconds at a
time.

A
cell phone can have the same effect on a person just as drinking can,
distracting the driver could cause the end of someone’s life.
Whatever the cost, nothing is more important than the lives of people
one can affect when driving under the influence or distracted. No
matter the distraction, it is crucial to keep the general public
aware with the threats that are on drivers everyday. In fact, the
majority of people drive to get to work, school, shopping, etc.
Therefore, if the country could focus on being more safety oriented
on the road, this could deeply benefit everyone. Every life matters
in some way, shape, or form, and checking social media, news, texts,
or calls can be life ending to the abuser and other innocent victims
on the road. The United States has become one of the strongest
nations to ever be, however, there still is a deep threat within that
tears away at people’s lives. I know I can make a difference in the
lives around me, so I am sure to let my family and friends now to
keep off their cell phones when they are on the road. Personally, the
devastating event that Lily had to endure showed me how dangerous
driving on the road can be. Therefore, I have convinced my parents to
always keep driving mode on their smartphone, where it will
automatically send people who text them a message to let them know
that they are on the road and will get to their text asap. I am
continually stuck with this issue on my mind as I grow to become an
adult and in college where drinking and driving is a danger as well.
Something I have done is offer my time to drive a drunk family member
home to ensure that they make it back in time and safely; thus, I
hope to motivate others to do the same as me.

Rather
than focusing children on the next big game set, cigarettes, or the
new Toy Story trailer, there should be an effort in implementing safe
slogans to ensure good habits from early on. Sandra L Calvert in a
study on the effects of marketing towards children stated:

Traditional
marketing techniques in television commercials include repetition,
branded characters, catchy and interesting production features,
celebrity endorsements, and premiums

I
found it particularly interesting when she said that the youth
control the pocketbook of their families. Causing me to recall at a
young age the persistence in my nature to get whatever eye-catching
novelty that came up at the time. I distinctly remember the catchy
cell-phone numbers sang in the TV -something that still hasn’t left
my mind to this day. Whether it be the repetition of the number
called in that song or the catchy features it had, the advertisers
got what they wanted from me. I had been manipulated since a young
age. If those commercials can be so effective on me, there is a
potential to convince kids to stay safe and keep that in their mind
as they grow older. There would be a great benefit to using these
tools for the betterment of humanity than the increase for a
product’s sales, and it all starts from a very young age, where the
human mind changes the most. Therefore, drivers ed can reduce
the number of deaths from drunk, distracted driving to avoid losing
innocent lives everyday.

Works
Cited

“National
Safety Council Membership.” National Safety Council
Membership, www.nsc.org/membership.

Ferdinand,
Alva O. “Technology Is Better than Ever – but Thousands of
Americans Still Die in Car Crashes Every Year.” The Conversation,
4 Mar. 2019.