Years later, I would come to recognize Safety-town as being a special reserved section of Eisenhower state park, a park that I often passed by car when I was going to the mall or to run errands. Safety-town was where my classmates and I first learned about cars and pedestrians and the rules that governed each of them. We learned about things such as the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet, riding on the sidewalk versus riding in the street with the flow of traffic as well as what the different traffic signs and symbols meant. The entire park was set up to look like a mini town (perfect for kids who were our age), and they provided us with bicycles, helmets and mini motorized cars to drive around in so that we could learn all about traffic safety.

Years later, I wonder how many adult motorists learned about the importance of driving safety because it seems as if every time I look around, I am witnessing someone else getting into a car accident! Most of the time (from what I have actually been able to see), these accidents are all preventable and are caused simply because the person who is driving is not paying attention. The last two accidents I witnessed were due to the fact that the secondary drivers were following the vehicles in front of them too closely. It is almost a shame to say that we, as a society, have become sloppy with our driving.

Earlier today, I had a dentist appointment, and as I was preparing to turn out of the parking lot into traffic, I noticed that there was someone who had pulled up behind me in the parking lot. Instead of leaving a little room between the two of us, the motorist’s front bumper was practically touching my back bumper, and I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if my car was a manual shift car and as I prepared to accelerate, I rolled back a little and hit them. As soon as I turned into traffic, within seconds someone who was a mile or so behind me had sped up and was riding my back bumper for the next two miles. I looked at my speedometer to see if I was doing something wrong that this person was so close to my vehicle. However, when I looked down at the speedometer, I saw that I was actually already doing ten miles over the posted speed limit. So, instead, I slowed down by five miles per hour, and eventually the impatient person behind me went around and shortly afterwards, wound up cutting someone off almost causing an accident.

When we get behind the wheel of a car, we really need to remember that driving is a privilege- not a right. We need to be more cautious when we drive and keep a lookout for angered drivers or those who are experiencing road rage so that we can steer clear. Nothing is more important than our own safety as well as the safety of others.