Education is the First Step

Cars are a part of our everyday life. These vehicles help us travel from place to place, however, we always want to get to our destination a little bit faster. Driving more irresponsibly causes us to get into wrecks. Without taking proper precautions while driving, we could end up in a situation never dreamed of. To be a safe driver, we must first learn to be smart behind the wheel.

Let’s start at the beginning. Driver education plays not only a big piece in your ability to get your license in some states but also is a huge preventive to fatal accidents. The Oregon Department of Transportation reported in 2018 that teens between 15-20 without driver education were responsible for 91% of teen accidents. Education allows for new drivers to gain a better understanding of how the road works and why the rules of the road are set up the way they are.

How drivers are taught can reduce the number of deaths from car accidents. From personal experience, using scare tactics helped be a safer driver than anything else. Showing real-life experience to young drivers on how simple tasks may seem easy to perform while driving, like texting, can be deadly. “Each day, 11 teens die in crashes relating to texting,” says TeenSafe in 2018. Teaching new drivers that these accidents can be common and deadly, may be what they need to hear to avoid texting while driving.

Thankfully I was taught very well in my driver education. I took multiple safe driving courses including “Drive and Live,” a distracted driving course, where I was able to have first-hand experience driving while distracted by a phone and using drunk goggles on go-karts. Taking this course allowed me to see that I am not capable of driving in these situations. Though I was taught how to operate a vehicle safely, I have seen some people who were not as safe and got into terrible accidents. The main causes of these accidents were speeding in areas the driver shouldn’t have. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that 31% of accidents with teens have speed as a factor. When these accidents happened, the drivers were speeding and hydroplaned resulting in their cars in ditches, one even flipped their car. There have also been incidents where people are texting and driving that causes accidents where they could have been easily avoided. One of these incidents involved a family member driving a car with brakes that were starting to go bad, the driver was distracted and did not see the brake lights ahead. This led to the brakes to lock up as they were slammed on and resulted in a fender bender which hurt the front side of the car but left both drivers in good health.

Driving safe applies to people of all ages whether it be a new driver or an experienced driver. The CDC states that the crash risk is highest in the first year that drivers are licensed. In my first year, I was very cautious as to how I drove, I went slower than most traffic around me, all out of fear for what could happen. I may not be able to convince my peers to follow those same steps, but I can help while in the passenger seat. There I can help keep another pair of eyes on the road to assist the driver by watching for any oncoming traffic that could potentially be dangerous.

With cars surrounding our lives, we must follow the proper steps to drive safely. Being safe may involve reducing speed, watching traffic a little closer, or waiting to put off tasks that can be done when the car is stopped. Changing the way you drive today could save a life tomorrow.