Name: Victoria Heppner
From: Goodyear , Arizona
Votes: 0
The
phone rang, tears suddenly streamed down my eyes as I learned the
tragic news of a car accident which had killed one of my close
friends. It was hard to wrap my head around such a tragedy. An
innocent and young boy’s life, only 12 years old, had been taken so
soon, too soon. His life had just begun, there were so many things
that he had left to experience, so many things to look forward to and
all of it was wiped away in the matter of seconds because of an
irresponsible and uneducated driver. How many more people are going
to die before we ensure the proper education of drivers? With proper
education, a driver is able to learn to become more aware of the
responsibilities that come along with driving and comes to understand
that driving is not something that should be taken lightly and that
it requires one’s utmost attention. Proper drivers ed is
easily accessible to all and this irresponsibility which is so common
in drivers today is inexcusable with all the resources available. I
believe that drivers on the road today are ignorant to how many
deaths are caused by driving and I feel as a first step to produce
more responsible drivers is that these numbers and statistics should
be made known to as many drivers as possible, so they understand the
seriousness of driving. I also feel that this generation, new drivers
especially, are so attached to their phones and social media that
they feel the need to constantly be checking or looking at their
phones, even when they drive. I believe that the use of phones while
driving should be completely illegal and should be heavily enforced
all over the world to prevent accidents and possible deaths. The
heartbreaking affects are numerous due to these reckless drivers who
use their phones. After I was informed of the death of my friend who
was killed in a car accident, I refused to drive for a few weeks. I
was so paranoid of hurting anyone around me while driving that I just
completely avoided it at all costs. Eventually my parents sat me down
and were able to reassure me that everything was going to be ok as
long as I knew the responsibilities I had and that I was always aware
while I drove. My eyes were opened to how dangerous driving can be if
one is not one hundred percent focused and it gave me a new
motivation to not only encourage myself but all the people around me
to become more aware while driving. Ever since that day, I have vowed
to put my phone completely out of reach from me while driving and
I’ve inspired my friends to do the same. Through this tragic, yet
eye-opening experience I’ve learned how important driver safety is
and I hope to continue to encourage others around me as well as
myself to be safer on the roads.
