Make Drivers Ed Required for Graduation!

Driving is a privilege not a right. When you are learning how to operate a vehicle and conform to the road laws, this is something you may hear often. This is said because you need to earn the privilege to drive. You need to prove that you are able to operate a vehicle safely for yourself and others around you. In the United States there were reported 329.48 million residents in 2021 (Statista) and according to (“HOW MANY LICENSED DRIVERS ARE THERE IN THE US?”) almost three quarters or 72.29% of the total population is reported to be licensed drivers. This means it is very important to know how to drive properly and keep others safe on the road. It should be a required subject in highschool in order to graduate.

Each driver has a loved one or a life of their own. Everybody on the road is just trying to make it home. Is responding to that text more important than the life of the driver next to you? If more people shut the phone off and focus on the road ahead, we could prevent over 2.5 million car accidents globally every year (Martin). Cell phones are not the only type of distraction that can take your focus off of the road. Things like daydreaming while driving account for 62% of all distracted drivers (“Distracted Driving”). People need to be more educated on the importance of focus while driving to prevent the ignorance and number of distracted drivers.

Many people like to drive offensively and take too much pride in their own skills. They danger themselves and everyone around them. Offensive driving is considered to be poor driving skills such as speeding, cutting other drivers off and improper lane changes (“The Difference between Offensive and Defensive Driving”). If everyone were to drive as recklessly as offensive drivers, there would be an increase in accidents and deaths. Especially when three fourths of the population in the United States drives this makes this fact even more true. There needs to be more defensive drivers who are aware of their surroundings and think before they act. These types of drivers are selfless and think of others and the road ahead.

If there was a more core focus on driver’s education throughout our public learning in the United States, it would educate more drivers and prevent distractions and accidents throughout the nation. Making drivers ed a required course to graduate from highschool and building a curriculum around the subject is what I believe would lower the deaths on the road. There is a higher percentage for young drivers who do not take a driving course for them to be injured in an accident and higher chance for them getting in the accident in the first place. The statistics prove that an education course would prevent accidents and save lives. These courses would teach the rules of the road and build confidence required to be a safe and good driver.

Confidence is key. When I was learning how to drive, I had a fear that I was going to lose control of the vehicle and drive off the road. This caused me to shake and get tunneled vision ahead instead of being aware of all my surroundings. This was not safe and was because I was not properly taught how to be confident in my own skills and control over my vehicle. I never went to a drivers education course because I never had to. When I finally needed a drivers course, I could not be admitted to any because I was “too old”. I had to wait until I was eighteen to take a test and get my permit. Even with my permit now, I still feel like there are lots of rules and tips I have missed because of my lack of education. If I was given classes in school that I had to study and get a grade for I feel like I would have been more prepared for when I actually began obtaining my license.

Being a passive driver who is confident in their own skills while also furthering my education on road rules, is what will keep me safe and others as well. Every chance that I get, I will teach my friends and family the importance of road knowledge because it could very well save their life. Maybe one day, the United States education system will make it to where every person is taught the importance of road safety and education.