Educated Drivers Win the Race

In today’s society, fast driving is synonymous with good driving. Ironically, the faster you drive, the higher the chances of a severe crash that is dangerous to everyone involved. I believe drivers education is very important when it comes to saving lives. Adequately educated drivers are proven to make less mistakes on the road than their counterparts. Studies show that students who take Driver’s Education in school are less likely to suffer a crash than those who did not. Driving is dangerous, but being educated propery on driving would immensely improve comprehension and reaction times, making the road safer for everyone on it.

The process in getting your drivers license is very simple, almost anybody could do it, and that is its issue. In a survey conducted by Volvo, 3 out of 5 drivers agreed that the drivers test was designed to be passed, not to truly test one’s driving skills. Instead of just a test, I believe you should be required to take a class with a comprehensive exam at the end in order to get your drivers permit. This would not only help lower the amount of distracted drivers on the road, but it would also increase the amount of educated drivers, making it a safe place for everyone and preventing loss of life. This is the first step we should take to reduce the numer of driving related deaths.

The second step would be increasing the amount of time spent driving between getting your permit and getting your license. In my state, you only have to drive a total of sixty hours over the span of six months before you take the drivers test. In my opinion, this is not enough. I believe that while you have your permit, you should be required to drive at least ninety hours, twenty being at nighttime. This exposure to the road while under the guidance of a licensed driver is crucial to being taught to drive. Exposing young drivers to more of one-on-one time would help the rules of driving become more solidified before they get their actual license.

The third step we should take is constructing a better test. My drivers test lasted no longer than five minutes, then I got my sticker and I was on my way. The drivers test should test if you are able to adapt to a multitude of situations on the road, such as someone slamming on their brakes in front of you, what to do if there is ice on the road, or how to navigate a city. If followed, the steps listed above would drastically decrease the amount of deaths correlated to driving.

The car accidents I have been in have been mild, and both of them were because of distracted driving. On the way home from church, a driver three cars ahead of us decreaced in speed rapidly- without brakelights- leading to my mother, who was right in front of us, and my father, who we were riding with, to be sandwiched in a six car rear-end. Since both of the cars we owned were in the wreck, my family and I were stuck there for a while. The second accident was during a funeral procession, which we had slowed down with the flow of traffic to pay respect to the police officer who had passed away when a lady who was on her phone rear-ended us going upwards of fifty miles per hour. Fortunately in both cases, nobody was injured, except for our 2008 Ford Taurus X, which was present in both wrecks. Luckily, both wrecks were several years ago and we have not been in an accident since.

My cousin was killed in a car accident when he was hit by a distracted driver. He died on impact. It is important to me that I am always conscious of everything I am doing when I am driving to prevent putting another family through what my family went through. When I am driving, I put my phone in my center console and it stays there for the duration of the drive. I keep my radio volume low to limit distractions from within the car. I try to stay within five miles of the speed limit while being aware of my surroundings. I try my hardest to be an attentive driver and follow all the rules I am supposed to. I always use my turn signal, I follow the five second rule when I am behind someone and I always stop at stop signs. Driving is a privilege that I am happy to have, but I am far from the educated driver that I want to be. Our drivers are less than perfect, but you cannot expect perfection if you do not give drivers the correct tools to achieve it.