Safety Requires Education

When I started getting my driver’s permit, at the bright-eyed age of 15 and a half, all I could think of was my end goal: a full-blown license. I sat through, what I thought was, the most monotonous online schooling I would ever have to experience (until, that is, the coronavirus struck). Little did I know that drivers ed is crucially important in reducing deaths caused as a result of driving. Drivers, especially newly licensed ones, are usually not fully aware of the responsibility one assumes when getting behind the wheel. Knowing the basic functions of a car does not encompass the entire duty one has while driving; the gas and brake pedals are not the full picture. Rolling down the street in my parent’s 2008 Honda Pilot, while euphoric, was and is a dangerous task. Cars are two-ton masses of steel that, if mismanaged, lead to catastrophe. Driving related deaths are caused by many factors, from intoxication to simply a lack of knowledge about the vehicle one is steering. The one effective way to prevent the consequences of irresponsible and reckless driving is simply drivers ed. This does not mean education before issuing licenses; this means yearly refresher courses that inform people of up-to-date statistics, new scientific research, and contemporary driving tips. Everyone thinks that, once they have a license and have some experience, that they are the best driver on the road. Unless your name is Jimmie Johnson, the famous NASCAR driver, you are simply not the best driver on the road. We all need to continue our education once we are out of the DMV, so that we do not become complacent. I’ve personally fallen victim to complacency before. Thinking I knew every rule there was to know, I made a left turn out of my church parking lot early in the morning ready to start my day, just in time for another driver to bump right into me. Under different circumstances, it would have been much worse. Had I been consistently educating myself on the rules of the road, and informing myself of the nuances of traffic law in my area, I could have avoided that mishap. Taking those steps is how I plan to become a safer driver, and how you can too. Reading up on the rules of the road, just every once in a while, is a great way to refresh knowledge you may have forgotten over the years. To add on to that, everyone’s local streets are different. Reading about your specific area, and learning how to safely navigate the roads around you, is crucial to contributing to making the roads a more educated, safer place. Doing these little things will make you a better driver, because you will be a more educated one. At the end of the day, having safe streets means having educated drivers, and we can all do a little better.