An Educated Driver is the Best Driver

Erica Dean

2020 Drivers ed Essay

An educated driver is the best driver and many drivers think that they. However, knowing the rules of the roads is not enough to be considered an educated driver. In order to reduce the number of deaths from car crashes, we first must recognize the characteristics that form an educated driver. The best way to do this is by emphasizing the importance of drivers ed. Drivers ed is one of the single most important tools towards reducing the number of deaths from distracted driving. The best way to ensure safety for all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians is by utilizing drivers ed in a manner that will drastically decrease the number of fatalities from car accidents. These are a few solutions to reduce the devastating number of deaths from uneducated drivers.

The best way to reduce the number of deaths from uneducated drivers is by introducing required drivers ed to all high schools. Most victims of distracted driving are teenagers, being that they are the majority of drivers dying from car accidents, this solution would be the most effective towards reducing the number of deaths related to driving. Although some schools already have this program, not all of them have an effective course guideline. By constructing a nationwide guideline at the federal level, or perhaps even the state level, teenage drivers will learn about all hazards of driving, not just the rules of the road. Just like any other driver’s course, this course should be taught in a classroom and accompanied by out-of-class driving practice. Similar to the driver’s test, student’s grades should be considered passing when they are above a certain grade, such as 80 percent. This class should be taken at least once during high school between students’ sophomore and junior year, the years when most teens get their permit or driver’s license. In addition, these classes should also go over issues portraying to car troubles, such as flat tires, transmissions failures, and other and not so common car issues that many teens may not think about when they earn their permit or driver’s license. Not to mention, this class should also go over the most common forms of distraction among drivers in their age group, such as texting and driving, driving under the influence, and any other forms of distracted driving. If this requirement were to be added to the national graduation requirements for high school seniors, the number of deaths related to car accidents among younger drivers would drastically decrease. Not to mention, we would be creating a safer environment for all drivers. Implementing this course would the first major step towards reducing the number of overall deaths related to car crashes.

Another effective step that could be taken outside of the classroom is implementing state-wide mandates with added incentives. In simpler terms, states can restrict certain actions, while providing benefits for drivers who don’t break their restrictions. Essentially, this would be the same thing insurance companies do, but at a state level. The local governments can provide benefits such as tax reductions, loan forgiveness, or occasional payments to drivers who practice good habits. Although government workers may not support this solution because it costs money, some restrictions can be made to reduce the amount of money that is needed for this proposal. Local governments can add an age restriction, so only people above a certain age will reap the benefits of these incentives or they can create a strike system that allows drivers to only mess up, on minor violations, a few times before they are fined. Either way, there are a lot of ways the state government can manipulate this solution to meet their requirements. By doing this at the state level, it allows the local governments to formulate their own rules based on the number of car crashes in their state based on their location, age of victims, and common violations.

Although these steps may take time to implement, there are other ways that distracted driving and deaths can be limited. Perhaps the quickest way to save lives is to evaluate our own choices. There are a lot of mistakes that drivers make behind the wheel and in order to make the streets we drive on safer, we must change our actions. This is especially important for teenage drivers. As a teenage driver, myself, I know that I must take on this responsibility with extra care. Just within the few years that I obtained my learner’s permit and driver’s license, I’ve witnessed many car accidents and listened to many of my friends describe their own car accidents. Many of them explained that the accident wasn’t their fault, but rather it was the fault of the other driver who failed to yield or pay attention to them. On the opposite side of the spectrum, I’ve had other friends explain to me how the car accident was their fault because they were looking at their phone or couldn’t hear or see the other driver. The same circumstances have also happened to my parents. Regardless of how long you’ve been driving, I’ve come to realize that car accidents are inevitable; however, they can be reduced if we all do our part. By taking what we’ve witnessed and heard, we can become better drivers. In my own effort to makes the streets safer, I have and continue to adjust some of my own habits. Some of the changes I am learning to make include turning off my phone before I get into the car or placing it in an area of the car where I can not see it or access it easily. Another step I learning to do more is turning the radio off when I am in the car to fully concrete on the roads. Although these steps may not create the nationwide outcome I am looking for as a driver, it is still making a difference. If other drivers were to take the same steps that I am taking, then all of our combined efforts will increase the safety of our streets. By making a change to our driving habits, we can all decrease the number of deaths from distracted driving.

These are some of the steps we can all make to create a safer driving environment. Although some of these solutions may take time to evolve, if every driver evaluated their driving habits and altered them to make the streets safer, we could make a real difference. Ultimately, the best effort to drastically reduce car-related deaths comes from our government officials; however, in the meantime, we all need to do our part to become educated drivers for the sake of our loved ones. After all, an educated driver will always be the best driver.