Drivers ed Initiative Essay

Driving is a regular part of our lives while most likely being the most dangerous part of our day. There are around six million car accidents in the United States annually and around three million injured as well. Many of these outcomes are due to factors such as alcohol, speeding, reckless driving, and distracted driving, but the biggest one is the lack of drivers ed. The importance of drivers ed in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving is crucial. New drivers need to learn about everything that can happen on the road if they don’t take the responsibility of driving seriously. They need to know scary statistics about driving such as, more people die in car accidents in a year than the total number of American soldiers who’ve died in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They need to know you increase the chance of crashing by 23 times when you text and drive. These statistics along with learning how to safely operate a vehicle is essential to reducing death due to driving.

Along with sharing very shocking information about the real dangers of driving, I believe there is one important step that can be done to reduce the number of death related to driving. Instructors who are teaching new drivers must emphasize the individual responsibility each driver has to keep themselves and others safe. They must understand that it starts with themselves to enforce safe driving laws. When their friend blows off the speed limit or chooses not to wear a seatbelt, they must speak up. New drivers must understand their lives, as well as everyone else’s lives, are at stake every time you get behind the wheel.

I often see my friends driving irresponsibly, mostly by being on their phones while behind the wheel. I discourage this behavior whenever I see it because I understand this is putting us and everyone else driving in danger, but I know that they continue this when I’m not with them. I understand the want to check your phone when you get a notification, but that risk is not worth any of the outcomes. I believe a couple of steps for me and others to become safer drivers on the road is to hold your friends and family accountable as well as yourself. Realize what you’re putting at stake when deciding to drive under the influence or without a seatbelt. We all must understand that driving is a dangerous activity we participate in, and we must take it seriously.