Education is the Key to Safety

2020 Drivers Education Contest Essay

Education is the Key to Safety

by

Benjamin Fisher

As technology make leaps and bounds around us, it might be easy to fall into the trap of thinking we need to worry less about the dangers of driving. Many cars have rear view cameras and sensors that alert us when our vehicle is too close to another car. And how many of us have dreams of sitting back in our self driving car, watching a show on the way to school while the car does all the thinking for us.

But in reality, the dangers of staying safe on the road are realer today than ever. There are more drivers than ever before, and there are more distractions. Everyone is in information overload. We are tempted to catch the latest news, check our phones and respond to our text messages.

It’s an accumulation of smaller steps that makes a safe environment overall. At the heart is knowledge, like the base foundation of skills learned through driver education. I can’t imagine being able to obtain a driver’s license without having taken the driving course through my DMV. It prepared me to drive defensively and deal with folks on the road who are not paying attention. Every hour I spent in class was vital in preparing me for defensive driving.

In 2012 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) began producing powerful ad campaigns to warn potential smokers of the dangers. Instead of cartoonish commercials, the spots were gritty and pointed: Smoke and there will be consequences. Like many issues, safety comes down to personal responsibility. Targeted ad campaigns that highlight what can happen from texting while driving or driving while distracted are (in my opinion) extremely effective. They show it only takes a moment for an accident to happen, and that it can be any of us at fault if we make the wrong decision. This knowledge can reduce the number of deaths related to driving.

I would recommend using platforms that are popular, and target specific age ranges with messages that are meaningful to them. If TikTok’s biggest stars all talk about how they put their phones down when they got behind the wheel, fans will listen.

Education extends to how we model good behavior for each other. I’m lucky that my parents don’t text and drive, or drive distracted. I try to do the same when I’m with my friends in the car. I’ve never been in an accident and hope I never will be. But additional steps can always be taken to make yourself safer. For my part, I often don’t leave myself enough extra time when setting out to work or school. This leads to the temptation to speed. I’ve started to ask my mom to remind me ten minutes before I actually need to leave, so I’m not feeling rushed. It has helped me be less stressed overall.

I also started putting my phone in the backseat, away from where I can reach it during the drive. Sometimes when I’ve been texting a lot, I’ll turn my phone off on the way to my job, to force myself to take a break.

All of us need to share in the responsibility of keeping our roads safe. It does’t have to be a drastic change. It’s the tiny decisions that keep our eyes on the road, which enable us to get home safely.