The Risk Gone Unnoticed

2020 Driver Education Essay Contest

Josh Moser

The Risk Gone Unnoticed

Driving irresponsibly is not something that can be taken lightly or disregarded as a one-time thing. All it takes is for one driver to be distracted for one second to cause a lifetime worth of tragedy. When thinking about the implications of driving recklessly most people are only considering one side of the equation. The state of the second driver is almost never considered despite the fact that it is just as important as the irresponsible driver. Most people are so conditioned to all other drivers acting in a certain way that if someone steps even slightly out of the norm, they are likely to react in a very extreme and quick manner as opposed to a logical decision. This is evident in the fact that many people end up swerving into a car that’s swerving towards them instead of diving off the road and making the safer decision. In order to decrease the overall risk of crash, drivers must be prepared for irresponsible drivers at any time and be able to understand the proper response to these situations. This can be accomplished relatively easily by including courses that include obstacles during driving school. By holding each and every single driver to a higher standard of reaction time and reaction quality many accidents can be avoided, or their severity massively reduced. In my life many of my friends have been in crashes that have nearly cost them their lives. One of my friends in particular was in a crash that could have been easily avoided if they have simply used their brakes. The crash occurred as someone performed a left turn without yielding and my friend was simply not ready to react to such as thing. Had she been educated on how to deal with stressful circumstances like that before receiving her license there is a much higher chance that the accident would have never occurred. The current method of teaching drivers only focuses on slow thought processes when in reality danger comes instantly and out of the blue. In order to improve my own driving and increase the safety of all of those who surround me I like to predict movements of other drivers and be ready in the case that they are being negligent. It is completely illogical to educate drivers on only part of what could happen when they are driving. By assuming that every single person drives perfectly and within the boundaries of the law the education system provides opportunity for new drivers to take too long to react and end up being put in danger. Drivers that are able to program their subconscious mind to take note of drivers that may pose a danger are much more likely to be able to react in time in order to save themselves from injury or even death. If every new driver were to be educated on how to spot cues of agitated drivers, then many accidents could be avoided due to the extra caution provided by the driver in order to keep themselves as well as the other driver safe. A responsible driver should be able to even the playing field with an irresponsible driver and avoid a crash by having knowledge of the danger prior to its arrival.