It is common sense to drive safely. We are taught it. Some of us even believe it. We all want to be safe drivers. But are we? Even the best of drivers often do not care for their own safety with the mindset of "it's my own life, I’m not hurting anyone else” or will make singular poor choices with devastating consequences. 

Even in the self-centered world that we live in, many drivers do not care for their own safety. Texting their boss back can not wait another five minutes. A seat belt is a bother. Drinking while driving is fine if they feel capable and “know their limits”. Have you ever just hopped into the car and been mindfully or mindlessly unsafe with the mindset of, "well, I'm generally a safe driver"? This has destructive implications for the driver and for many others.

For even the best of drivers, these types of actions are never a single incident. When you become accustomed to, for example, not wearing a seatbelt, it becomes a habit. A very dangerous habit. Behaviors made while driving are hard to break, just like any other. Though drivers know that there are terrible consequences for things like distracted driving or road rage, we still engage in these behaviors, even normalizing these practices. Even if the poor choice of the driver did not take the life of a bystander or lose their own life, there can be life altering consequences through disability, loss of property, and related financial issues for those you love and care about. Dear distracted or risky driver: take value in the life you have been given. Please buckle up and pay attention! Even if you have no care of losing your own life, I promise you that someone cares!

But what if safety while driving was about even more than just yourself? Even if you see no value in your own life, there are horrendous consequences to people not even making poor choices in relation to bad driving. Many people lose their lives every year due to the mistakes of others in cars. Even if that seatbelt is rubbing your best friend's neck, make them put it on. I promise that any temporary irritation or being mocked as being parent-like (as I, a teenager, often am) is nothing compared to the grief, heavy weight of depression, and guilt you would have if you were to be involved in a crash (even if it was not your own fault) and your friend was to be killed. Even if you are running late to that job interview, speeding could end an innocent bystander's life, closing off many job interviews in the future for yourself, but ending any opportunity for that bystander. Slow down, it's not worth it. Even if that text seems pretty urgent, it can not be as truly life and death as distracted driving is. Think of any cause of a car accident. Remember in your own life how it seems so important in the moment. In light of the big picture, is it worth it? I understand the temptation to slack off “just once” but it is not worth it at all. 

Even if you are not driving, there are negatives involved for passengers who do not value driving safety. Who you ride with and how you ride matters. Choose safe drivers who are not impaired. Buckle up. Pay attention. In a specific example dear to my heart, sit safely! Sit up and choose where you ride in a safe manner. In Southern culture, riding on the backs of pickup trucks is seen as socially “cool”. It is also legal. This practice is not just a socially allowed norm, it is popularized by movies and promoted through drinking culture. This makes a seemingly innocent action increasingly more dangerous. When looking at the numbers, this common habit is known to cause many deaths in the South every year. Why are actions and behaviors like this normalized in our culture? 

In the alarming amount of accidents that happen daily because someone in a car messed up “just once”, I think that every driver should evaluate their choices in the view of the worst case scenarios. Nothing we have is more precious than human life, do not waste it on an unsafe choice! This should not just be a personal choice, this should be developed even more strictly through the existing curriculum of driving schools throughout the entire nation, looking at the emotional side of driving safety, not just the legality. 

Simply put, driving safety is bigger than just you. It involves your choices on how you drive and how you ride. It involves following the law, but it comes out of a place of more than just legality. We should care deeply about driving safely because we care about the human life!