Bad Driving Habits

Thousands of people are killed in car accidents every year. There are an assortment of reasons why; from driving drunk to even falling asleep at the wheel. The main reason that most people are killed in car accidents each year is because most people have very bad driving habits, and the main of these people are teenagers. Many teens believe themselves to be immortal, so they feel they can do anything and nothing will go wrong, or hurt them. The three worst habits teens have are road rage, poor grasp on safety, and multitasking.

Anyone that drives has experienced road rage, whether they have the road rage or are being pursued by someone with road rage. However, most teens practice the bad habit of road rage, mainly because they want to be the best or faster driver. For example, if I am driving home from school and someone passes me even though I am going over the speed limit, I have to pass them, I have to be in the front of the pack of cars. This does not seem like road rage, but it is, I get upset if someone passes me. Also, if I am heading down North A1A, whether I am going the speed limit or not, and someone decides to cut in front of me when I am less than a hundred yards from them I do not instantly slam on my brakes. I will usually keep going my speed and tailgate that person until they decide to speed up or pull off the road and let me by, if they do neither of the two, I will often pass them. One thing that is bad to mix with road rage is poor safety.

Safety is the number one rule to remember while driving, you need to practice good safety habits at all times. A seat belt may be uncomfortable to wear at times, however, if you get into a car accident, even if it is not your fault, it can save your life. I am usually cautious while driving, even if I have road rage and am driving fast. I always wear my seat belt, stop completely at stop signs, never run red lights on purpose, however, no one, not even myself, is perfect when driving. Some of my bad habit when driving are usually that I only drive with one hand at the bottom of the steering wheel, I can relax just a little bit more like that, but if someone where to cut out in front of me, I might not be able to turn my wheel in time. Another bad habit is that I sometimes take corners a little too fast and on wet roads, I can tend to slide into the other lane if I am not careful. To make the mixture of bad driving habits even worse, multitasking would be the thing to add.

Being able to multitask, or do multiple things at once, can be a good thing if you are trying to cook dinner, answer the phone, fold the laundry, and take care of your kid sister all at once. However, if you are driving, the one thing you need to be doing is keeping your eyes on the road, nothing else. A lot of small accidents that happen are due to the fact that a person is either playing with their radio or trying to answer their cell phone. Doing more than one thing at a time qualifies as trying to multitask. I often practice the habit of multitasking at times as well; there have been times when I am trying to turn down my stereo as I answer the phone, down shift my car, while taking a turn. I have been very lucky not to get into any accidents while doing this, however, the one thing I concentrated on the most was keeping my eye on the road.

If adults and teen alike would just practice good driving habits, the amount of car accidents each year would reduce itself dramatically. There are always many people to use as examples to what good driving habits are, I may not be a very good example at what to do while driving, however, I am an excellent example of what not to do while driving.

If you have ever been driving down the road, minding your own business, and got cut off, ran off the road, or were given the finger than you have fallen victim to road rage. Each day Americans grow more and more likely to take out their personal frustrations on other drivers. It is called aggressive driving and it is on the incline. Other forms of aggressive driving you have probably experienced include such things as illegal or improper lane changes or turns, failing to stop or yield right of way, excessive speeds, and an assortment of gestures, looks and verbally abusive language. Everyday you have to deal with these people on our roads. We run a great risk just driving around the corner to go to the store or a quiet trip to church. Two-thirds of car related fatalities are at least partially caused by aggressive driving. Fortunately, there is something you can do about it. To overcome aggressive driving we must first understand it. The major cause of aggressive driving is a discourteous or inattentive driver. The number one cause is probably the \”left-lane hog\” other discourteous driving behaviors include failure to signal before a lane change, changing lanes too closely to other drivers and tailgating. It is then that you, an unaware driver that infuriates the aggressive driver and triggers the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transformation. Reduced enforcement, highway traffic, congestion or personal issues also play a large role in the disposition of the aggressive driver. The angry driver then may demonstrate his displeasure by speeding around the you, cutting you off or with a number of verbal and nonverbal messages. Though the driver may feel justified in his or her action, this kind of display is most times very dangerous and often will result in damage to either your car, you, and possibly anyone else around