Importance of being a safe and educated driver

According to Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TRIF), in 2020, 17 years old drivers were involved in 40 crashes per million miles of travel, while above 20 years, drivers were involved in 10 crashes per million miles of travel. From these statistics, it is evident that the drivers below 17 are involved in more crashes than those above 20, which could be due to a lack of driving education, inexperience, and lack of driving capabilities. This is not a surprising statistic since, without driving education, one cannot understand the basic rule of the road, the primary driving skills, and the vital requirement of driving. Without proper driving education, one is not adequately equipped for the self-paced driving activities that involve myriad basic tasks such as braking, steering and high order skills like decision making and problem-solving, all necessary for safe driving operation. Therefore, the high incidence of road accidents caused by the below 20 years old uneducated driver can be reduced by half if they are trained through an effective driving education program. This essay will discuss why a driving education program is essential to reducing road accidents and the effective steps to be implemented to decrease the number of deaths from driving.

To begin with, driving education gives the driver the confidence to drive, use the road and make decisions on the road. In this case, when teenagers successfully undergo the driving education course successfully, they become more confident with the abilities and skills they have acquired during the driving course. Hence they will be in a better situation to drive carefully on the roads and respond appropriately to any challenging situation when driving, thus avoiding making common mistakes that lead to road death. According to McKnight (2020), driving education teaches emergency response, anticipatory exercise, and skills that instill a perception of confidence. As a result, the driving education learner is taught how to apply these skills as well as overestimation skills to drive.

In addition, driving education courses instill the rules of the road knowledge to the learner, ensuring proper behavior on the road to maintain safety. One essential practice of safe driving is observing the traffic rules and signs since they indicate the dangers and obstacles that could put risk on the driver. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2020), about 45% of road accidents are due to negligence of the road signs or unawareness of the road signs. In most cases, uneducated drivers and other adults with a long driving history tend to forget or be unaware of different road signs and rules. Driving education’s curriculum is continuously updated to ensure one learns about the current version of these road signs. As a result, a successful driving education learner will be able to read, observe and understand the traffic rules and safety signs that help mitigate road risk and reduce accidents.

Although the above aspects of driving education are taken seriously to ensure safe driving on the road, there is a need to improve their curriculum. It is evident those with driving licenses are involved in accidents that can be easily avoided, and this might be because of the loopholes found in the driving education curriculum. Therefore to ensure that driving education programs help minimize road crashes, there is a need to have extended supervised driving and graduated driving licensing rather than conventional driver training alone. This recommendation has been supported by Vernick et al. (2019), who suggested that there be “parental involvement whereby driving exposure during the critical learner driver phase is increased prior to unaccompanied driving” (P1). Graduated licensing will ensure that greater parental involvement in supervision reduces exposure to high risks. When a graduated licensing program is implemented in driving education, it will bring about two stages: a basic driver education and a rudimentary multistage driver education. As a multiphase program that has successfully influenced road crashes in countries such as Finland, it will help advance the learners skills other than the rush to acquire a driving license to avoid penalties. In this case, the first phase will provide basic vehicle handling skills, while the second phase will provide other safe driving skills.

Other steps to implement to reduce the number of deaths related to driving would include; the government to enforce traffic law enforcement with the requirement that drivers observe the speed limit, wear seatbelts, use child restraints, and avoid drunk driving. They also need to ensure that cars have universal safety standards. Research shows that vehicles with safety technologies such as car seat anchorages and side/frontal protection would reduce the impact of car collisions (Mayhew and Simpson, 2021). Besides, the government should improve public transit quality, making it safer than traveling by personal car (Christie, 2021). In countries with better public transport, the accident from public transport is 10% of the private vehicle. Hence with more rapid transits, the government would experience less death from driving.

During my first year after acquiring a driving license, I did experience a car accident due to destructive driving behavior. While on the highway at a speed of 60Km/hr, my phone rang, it was a call from my brother. Without the thought that I am at a speed that does not require even 30-second destruction I took one hand off the steering wheel and my eyes out of the road to receive the call. In a second split, I heard a loud bang; my car had crashed into the highway rails, and the car behind me had crashed onto my vehicle. I did escape the accident with minor head and leg injuries thanks to the airbag technology, although my car was severely destroyed. The vehicle behind me did not have severe damage; however, he prosecuted me for causing damage to his vehicle.

I was lucky I did not cause a fatal accident because most cases of accidents caused by destructive driving behavior end in death. They say experience is the best teacher; having experienced that accident, being hospitalized for one month, and paid a heavy fine to the court, I swore never to repeat the same mistake. From that day, I decided to always be keen on the road and to avoid destructive driving behavior such as using mobile phones while driving. To ensure that I prevent destruction by mobile phones when driving, I will always turn off my mobile phone or switch to silent mode. This will reduce getting a text or call notifications that trigger me to reply or receive the call and therefore have total concentration on driving. Also, other than receiving calls or responding to a text while driving, I would instead stop the car at the roadside or the correct parking stop and then receive the call or reply to a text, and after I am done, I embark on driving. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2020, about 9% of the total fatal accident involved distracted drivers, and 30% involved the use of mobile phones. With these alarming statistics, I do all time remind anyone driving to never forget switching off their phone so that they do not get the temptations to utilize it.

It is therefore evident that driving education is one of the best ways to reduce road accidents. If the younger individuals are taken through the two phases of the graduated licensing program, the result would be reduced incidents of road crashes since they will be equipped with appropriate road safety knowledge and skills. A successful individual from the driving school will have courage when driving, be in a position to understand traffic rules and signs, know how to avoid accidents, and also observe safety on the roads. In addition to driving education, other steps include improving the public transit system, enforcing road safety regulations, and ensuring vehicles are equipped with improved technology will help reduce road accidents. As a one-time victim of a road accident, I have learnt to observe driving rules to the maximum because I now understand what a destruction of 30 seconds, like a mobile phone, can cause. All the destructive aspects that one gets when driving bring about three types of destruction, visual, manual, and cognitive. Visual does make one lose eye concentration on the road, manual destruction makes one lose control of the steering wheel, and cognitive makes one concentrate on other things other than driving.

References

Christie R. The effectiveness of driver training as a road safety measure: a review of the literature. Noble Park, Victoria, Australia: Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) Ltd, 2001.

Mayhew, D. R., & Simpson, H. M. (2021). The safety value of driver education an training. Injury prevention, 8(suppl 2), ii3-ii8.

McKnight AJ (2020). Driver education—when? In: Mayhew DR, Simpson HM, Donelson AC, eds. Young driver accidents: in search of solutions. Proceedings of an international symposium. Ottawa, Ontario:

National highway traffic safety administration (2020). Public Health Rep., 102(6), 667-668.

Traffic Injury Research Foundation (2019). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Traffic Injury Research Foundation.

Vernick JS, Li G, Ogaitis, S, et al (2019). Effects of high school driver education on motor vehicle crashes, violations and licensure. Am J Prev Med1999;16:40–6.