Why Drivers ed is Important

Why
Drivers ed is Important

Carolyn Williams

According to the
Association for Safe International Road Travel, 37,000 people die
annually in the United States in road crashes. Of those 37,000, 1,600
are children. I find this number to be unacceptable and we need to
find a way to fix it. I believe the best way to fix anything is
education. The saying, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for
a day. If you teach the man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime,”
is one of my favorite quotes. Proper education can help many people.

We know that
education could help reduce motor vehicle crash deaths, but the
question is how and what to teach the community. For students
learning to drive, I believe everyone should have to take a driver
safety course. Aside from the reduction in driver insurance, it
teaches new drivers just how important road safety is. Following the
speed limit along with knowing and understanding the rules of the
road are from the very beginning, will only help create good habits.

I grew up Missouri,
so I have had my permit since I was fifteen and my license since I
was sixteen. Once, when I was fifteen and driving on a very curvy,
dangerous road with my mom in the passenger seat and my friend in the
backseat, a drunk driver hit me. She was in my lane as I was coming
around the corner and I had to hit the side of her so I wouldn’t go
off into a very dangerous ditch. That is the one and only car
accident that I have been in. Thankfully, no one was hurt and I
learned a very important lesson. From then on, I have always been
very aware of my surroundings as I drive and am firmly against drunk
driving.

I feel as though
drunk driving has been something that is a well-known driving don’t
in the driver safety courses. However, with today’s society, we
need to focus on distracting driving with cell phones. I never text
while I drive and I use my hands-free calling feature in my car. My
biggest fault is changing my music on my phone that is plugged in.
This is a habit I try my best to avoid, but sometimes I catch myself
getting distracted by it. I believe we need to teach that distracted
driving is more than just texting or calling, it’s everything from
changing music to listening to it too loudly. I know that it is a
flaw I need to work on and also one that many others also need to
break in order to be a safer driver on the road.