LEARN TO DRIVE TO SURVIVE

Safety within a car is very important. It could one day save a life while someone drives the streets. Doing the simplest things can make such a huge difference between life and death; for example, just wearing a seat belt can save someone’s life. Or even not texting while driving can prevent someone from having a fatal accident. Things that only take a few seconds to do can most definitely save a life.

One way to increase chances in safety and survival in a car incident is wearing a seat belt. People have been told to wear their seat belt since they were a little kid, but people don’t understand how much a seat belt can actually protect someone in an emergency.

According to Christopher S. Carpenter’s article “The effects of mandatory seat belt laws on seat belt use, motor vehicle fatalities, and crash-related injuries among youths” in the Science Direct, mandatory seat belt laws significantly reduced traffic fatalities and serious injuries resulting from fatal crashes by 8% and 9%, respectively. Seat belts could literally mean the difference between life and death.

According to Taylor Covington’s article “Seat Belt Statistics and Facts in 2020” in The Zebra, in 2018, 89.6% of drivers and passengers in the United States used seat belts, which saved roughly 15,000 lives. Even students at Greenway High School wear their seat belts.

“I always use my seat belt while being driven to places,” Freshman Vernon Blackshire said. Another tip that could improve car safety is not texting while driving.

Texting and driving is one of the most dangerous things someone can do while on the road. While people are texting their friend about how fake their Jordans are, they are risking their life and others. Instead of paying attention on the road and watching the dangers, they are looking at a screen.

According to Edgar Snyder’s article “Texting and Driving Accident Statistics” in Edgar Snyder & Associates , The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year and nearly 390,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving. This means that 1 in 4 car accidents in the United States are caused by texting and driving. You could avoid this situation with one simple solution, just put your phone down and pay attention to the road and your surroundings. People could possibly save someone’s life by just waiting to text their friend later. But, even the simplest things can help improve driving safety, like using a turn signal.

It seems like a small thing to do, but using a turn signal can do a lot. The point of a turn signal is to tell other drivers that someone is merging into a lane or going right or left. Turn signals also let other drivers know if they need to slow down or move out of the way. It’s very simple but if you don’t use a turn signal it could possibly cause an accident. Without using a turn signal, someone could surprise drivers and they could start to serve and avoid the other person; this could cause an accident. Additionally, without using a turn signal, other drivers can’t tell if they need to slow down or not to let someone merge into a lane, so someone could just be going into a lane with someone going really fast.

In conclusion, car safety is a very important factor to driving. It protects people’s lives from being taken; the dangers of driving should not be taken lightly. Even our own teachers at Greenway agree with this.

“I am aware of the risks of driving; I know that driving is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly; I am a responsible person so I drive with care, and I enjoy the privilege of driving since it enables me to travel at my leisure wherever I want to go,” English teacher Mr. Zier said.  All someone has to do is follow these car safety tips and they can definitely save a life.