Driver Safety for a Better Tomorrow

Driver Education is essential for making the roads we travel daily a safer place not only for us, but for the young drivers of the world. Roadways are the basis on which our country relies on. Unlike countries like Germany that use high speed rails, the U.S, due to the mixture of suburban, rural, and urban life, creates distance that we are only set up for travel by car. Civilians are not the only ones who use these roadways, however. Semi-trucks, towing vehicles, motor-cycles, emergency vehicles, and bike riders also use these roadways that people must know how to share the road with. Yearly around 4,600 fatal accidents occur a year involving semi-trucks and nearly 1,000 fatal bicycle accidents. Teenagers and young drivers are also greatly affected. Roughly 2,500 teenagers are killed a year from car accidents and over 200,000 are injured. This number, though still large, has greatly reduced from roughly 5,300 in 2005. This is due to more implication of driver education and road safety courses. Driver Education has proven to reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to better preparing young drivers, the most vulnerable, to learn not only how to drive, but how to drive safely even when others around them are not. The steps to better this education system would be after passing the written permit test, then people are required to drive with a free instructor through, at the very least, a safety course. Even if they receive their permit test at 18, a free course would greatly improve and show proper technique to the young drivers. This also allows for low income families to receive driver education if they cannot afford instructors. Many families cannot afford, especially in California, allowing their child to go through any sort of class or course with a driving instructor. Providing a free, even one day course that can provide teenagers with basic knowledge, and basic procedure of what to do in certain situations can improve the driving on our roadways greatly. Not every family can afford $500 worth of driving time with instructors. In my personal experience, I have noticed that once young drivers feel comfortable that they disregard much of the driver safety such as speeding. Incorporating not only lessons of how to drive safely, but what to do in dangerous situations, such as hydroplaning, could save more lives each year. Another important lesson would be how to drive in certain weather conditions depending on where you are. For example, Northern California has a different type of road condition when it snows in the MidWest. The Northern California snow is more wet which makes it easier to hydroplane, while in the MidWest, the snow is so cold that it easily blows off the freeway. I have witnessed irresponsible driving, as well as watching my mom get multiple DUIs resulting in the loss of her license. Witnessing dangerous actions have taught me that I need to be careful, not only about how I drive, but also how others drive. Living in a small town surrounded by two lane highways result in a lot of head on collisions that are typically fatal. I have learned that I need to constantly be aware of everyone who tries passing me, if others on the other side of the road are passing someone, or if I believe someone could be intoxicated. To be a better driver, and make the road that I drive a better place, I not only go the speed limit, but also analyze the road and weather conditions and adjust based on that. I also am constantly of other drivers around me, and avoid becoming part of congestion on the freeway if I can. I also never ride in another vehicle’s blind spot, for that can result in an accident extremely fast. My father, a professional truck driver with different class licenses has taught me many ways on how to avoid even coming close to being a part of an accident. These lessons make me feel more secure on the road, especially being on the road with other, unpredictable drivers. Driving is something that most people experience everyday, yet, it is still extremely dangerous even though we may forget. Always being cautious is extremely crucial. Driver education is important for everyone at every age. If there are ways to lower the death rate of the road then we should do everything in our power to save the lives of the people.