Diver Education Is No Joke

Alexandra Cronkite

1 October 2020

Diver Education Is No Joke

Reducing the number of injuries and fatalities caused by automobile collisions is a huge issue. A solution is to improve driver education. Teaching new and old drivers the importance of driving responsibly by not driving under the influence, checking your blind spots, not using your phone while driving, and so much more can help to reduce deaths related to driving.

Many people who are bad drivers are not being that way on purpose. They just fail to realize how dangerous their driving is or how to improve it. Educating people on what repercussions their actions can have is a way to open their eyes to what they may have been doing incorrectly. I know it has been pushed a lot in recent years to not text or use your phone at all while driving and yet I still see people doing it very frequently. Many people feel immune to the consequences of these habits. Providing statistical data on how inattention can increase the likelihood of an accident would be something important to stress. Another tactic would be to inform them of the various ways they can break this habit by implementing certain settings on their phone that restrict their usage while driving.

It is also crucial to educate drivers, regardless of experience. Many people have varied experiences when they first start driving. Learning from your parents/guardians, a high school class, or an independent driving school can all bring unique learning experiences. Different teachers emphasize different things. You may have been taught by someone who was very strict when it came to signaling, but maybe they were not as informative when it came to all the different ways you can check your blind spots. Providing or seeking out a balanced and well-rounded education on such an important subject is key to having all the appropriate tools for driving safely.

I was in a terrible accident a few years ago. I was travelling down a main street with heavy traffic when another car decided to make a U-turn in the middle of it but started from the far right lane and then proceeded to turn and swing their car across every lane of traffic. I was in the fourth lane travelling in the same direction, by the center turning lane, and they t-boned my car. I’m grateful I was alert and paying attention or else I would have probably swerved into oncoming traffic. Thankfully I didn’t as I managed to counter turn and ended up in the center lane before moving my barely drivable car to a side street. The other driver clearly wasn’t paying attention and didn’t know the basic rules of the road.

A way to improve your own driving is to educate yourself. If you know someone who you think is a good driver, ask them for advice. If you’re with someone and they are driving erratically or not pay attention, tell them. Tell your friends about the potential dangers of driving unsafely. Not only for their sake but their passengers as well as others on the road.