He’s Trying to Box Me In!

He’s Trying to Box Me In!

“He is trying to box me in! I don’t know what to do!” I screamed. “Speed up!” Sarah shouted.

During my driving education, I was with my instructor, Sarah. We were going onto the freeway for the very first time. I was picking up speed and a driver on the freeway wouldn’t let me merge. He was matching my speed and just wouldn’t let me in. I was terrified. I screamed the whole time I was on the on-ramp. All Sarah could say was that drivers do that occasionally just to be difficult. I thought it was incredibly reckless of him. I wonder if he would have acted differently had he known I was a student.

Since that time, for the past two years of driving, I have been thrust into situations where I suddenly have to respond to new driving situations. These days I drive with confidence even when I am driving alone. The routine of driving and the knowledge I gained in driving education has helped me overcome my fears. I am now able to easily navigate around reckless drivers.

Driving education is important because it gives students the opportunity to learn the theory of driving and allows practical experience in a safe environment. For example, in my initial driving with my instructor, I drove in a parking lot for a long time before she encouraged me to take the car onto the road. She was allowing me to develop my skills in small increments. Theory is very important because my knowledge of theory helps when encountering situations I have not seen before. One example is the double-laned roundabout at my new high school. Having never encountered one before, I relied on what I learned in driving education two years ago to help me navigate that new experience.

It is horrifying that 34,000 people each year die on the road. Driving education can help to reduce those deaths by providing students with a safe, controlled bubble of driving experience. Driving instructors incorporate education about some of the common mistakes or shortcuts that experienced drivers make that can trip up new drivers. New drivers can then recognize those dangerous situations and avoid them. Driving education encourages new drivers to find and use the safety features in their car, like seatbelts and airbags, that can be greatly helpful in preventing death on the road if they were the victim of someone else’s recklessness.

I am always learning and becoming a better driver. I am improving on the skills that driving education has taught me. I use the skills and knowledge from driving education to keep myself safe and to protect others’ safety as well. I make it my goal to continually learn safe driving practices and further my education to find new situations that I haven’t been in before so that I know what to do.

“Sometimes drivers do that. That is why we are learning together.” said Sarah. Driving education has probably already saved my life.