What were the biggest things I learned while at the RACbestreetsmart excursion?
The RACbestreetsmart excursion was a very influential experience that I am very happy that be a part of. There were multiple huge takeaways from this event, but the ones I felt were the most impactful were the effects of not wearing a seatbelt, effects of not paying attention while driving (e.g., being on your phone), after affects of an accident (jail, fine, life long guilt), lose of limbs and ability to do stuff by yourself and the mental trauma that stays with you after an accident. These were the lessons that I found the most important as they are scary and make me feel that I must stay responsible on the road, or these things may happen to me. The most impactful statement that was said at the event was, said at the very end when they stated a statistic that 2 or more of us statistically won’t be alive at the same time next year. I found this statistic very scary and made me scared that could possibly be me. This is why I found it so effective.
What is one piece of advice that you would like to pass on to young drivers above all else. Why?
A piece of advice that I would like to pass on to other young drivers above anything else would be, to not be distracted while driving. Distracted driving is one of the biggest causes of deaths on the road at the moment and it is a growing problem as more of the population gets phones and more things become distractions on the road. Not only do these distractions affect you, but they also affect everyone around you. If a crash occurs the effect on others and their families can be devastating and can cause life long grief. Along with causing damage to others, the affect to yourself can leave you dependent on other for the rest of your life.
Write down a pledge that you will commit to when you start driving. Why did you pick these things to commit to? How will you stick to these commitments?
I pledge that I will not use my phone or be distracted by anything whilst driving and to not take my road rage out on the other around you. I picked these 2 things because they are 2 things that I have seen and would never like to see myself doing. I could never live with myself if I was the reason that someone wasn’t alive anymore, because of me. If I am feeling angry on the road, I would hope that I’ll think twice before expressing my annoyance and think about the fact the I don’t know what’s going on in their life right now. I will stick to these commitments by limiting the use of my phone in the car by putting out of reach, which would make it a big inconvenience to get and make me think twice about if it is a appropriate to use my phone at that time.