Safe Driving and You

2020 Driver’s Education Essay

Callie Loudenber

11/23/2020

An accident can change your life. It can change the lives of many people, the people in the other car, bystanders, and the EMT, and police officers who come to the accident site. This essay is going to cover many topics. First, the importance of driver’s education in today’s world. Second, what steps can be taken to reduce the number of accidents. Third, my personal experience with poor driving and car accidents. Finally the steps I can take and have taken to be a better and safer driver, and how to help others to be a better safer driver.

Our world has changed immensely since I was learning to drive. You have onboard navigation systems, in car video, and cell phones. Most of these devices are distractions while we are driving. Especially cell phones. They all draw your attention away from the road. Better education on what cell phones can do to the driver, passengers and other drivers or pedestrians. We need better education of how to operate a car with these devices functioning in their vehicles. There should be required training for all drivers, not just parents teaching their children. We should all tune out all movie sounds. For cell phones should be turned to silent or driving mode. If you are driving a newer car you can connect your phone to your car via blue tooth, and set it to busy, or driving so you don’t receive calls or text messages. If you need to have your phone on, connect it via blue tooth and you can say answer, and conduct your conversation. The safest way would be to pull over when you receive a phone call. On your navigation system it will only turn on when you’re in park to input the address which is great. However, you should test the volume of the voice so you can hear it over background noise. These are all things that should be part of mandatory driving education, and part of the driving test.

To reduce the number of accidents, this is a box of worms. First implement the suggestions I put above, and that will greatly reduce the number of accidents. Another main issue that is new to this generation is marijuana or CBD. This can cause either slow or overly quick reaction times. It is difficult for officers to determine if a driver is high. We need to have better ways to determine if that is a suspicion, than send them to the hospital for a blood test or urinalysis. Drunk drivers are another high cause of accidents. Implement more of the road signs with the number if you suspect a drunk driver. As part of the driving test they should also be given that number.

I have had multiple experiences of poor driving or driving that caused accidents. My mother will occasionally drive on the wrong side of the road, and will always have an excuse for it. By the age of seven, I was in 7 car accidents in 3 months, in which she was at fault. I was terrified to learn how to drive, and in fact didn’t drive until I was 19. As an adult, I stupidly allowed her to drive my car, she blew a red light, and t-boned a truck. It caused all the air bags in the car to deploy, and injury to the other driver. Our car was totaled, and we had to struggle and reach out to family to get another vehicle because we needed one for work. I could not from age 7-32 get in a car with her without having a panic attack. She is no longer allowed to drive. I personally have had physical repercussions from the car accidents when I was in the car, my spine has shifted 0.5 inches to the left, and I have completely severed a ligament in my neck. I can’t begin to imagine what the other drivers have suffered.

Finally, how to be a safer driver. When I finally learned how to drive, I read the manual backward and forward until I had it memorized. I only drove in deserted parking lots, practicing turns, stops, reversing, etc. I even went so far as to have my aunt and uncle teach me how to drive. I passed my driving test on the first try. I feel that the documentation of hours is a poor format, because it can be forged. You should be required to take driver’s safety courses, and there shouldn’t be a charge as this is for the safety of everyone on the road. I have 3 children getting close to driving, I drive them nuts, because I tell them how long to stop at a stop sign, in which order they should go. I go over phone safety, and direction safety. I’ve explained how long to have your turn signal on before changing lanes. I also have explained what all the road sign symbols mean, when you can pass when you cannot. All of my kids will take a driving test, and I have made it abundantly clear about the risks of driving under the influence. I feel it’s a parent’s responsibility to be involved in their child’s driving experience, and because of my safe driving and following all road rules, they have never experienced a car accident…knock on wood.