Drivers ed Initiative Award: In the Driver’s Seat

According to
DriversEd.com “The
purpose of Drivers
education is
to provide you with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for
vehicle safety both as a driver and
as a pedestrian.” Drivers ed can greatly reduce the amount
of crashes and people convicted of those crashes. As stated on the
drivesmartgerogia.com website “Driver
education is
associated with a lower incidence of both crashes and convictions
– reducing crashes
by 4.3% and convictions by nearly 40%.” Drivers ed does
not only reduce the number of crashes but it reduces the number of
deaths and innocent lives that are hurt from roadway collisions.
Drivers ed means families don’t have to lose loved ones and
means no one has to suffer major consequences.

Steps
that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving
are practicing defensive driving techniques such as cutting out
distractions (for example cell phones), following the 3-4 second
rule, and very importantly don’t drive while intoxicated.

I
personally had a very good friend who suffered a car accident. She
was pulling up to a stop sign with her friend in the passenger seat
when another car collided right into hers knocking her car off the
road into a nearby tree. The driver was under the influence and my
friend’s car ended up being totaled and my friend and the person in
the passenger seat were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
In a way you could say she was lucky because she had just dropped her
nephew off at daycare before the drunken driver hit her, if that
accident had happened any sooner her 6 year old nephew could’ve
lost his life all because a person chose to drive intoxicated
carelessly. A mother could’ve lost her son, another mother could of
lost their daughter siblings could’ve lost their sister, even the
intoxicated driver could’ve lost his own life himself. Of course
its been a year since that incident and my friend is doing much
better but not many others get to escape car accidents so easily.
Many countless others lose their lives every day because of similar
situations like that.

Steps
you can take to become a safer driver as well as help others become
safer on the road is be mindful of your own actions. The text can
wait, the phone call can wait, and the alcoholic drink can certainly
wait. Taking these steps to become a safer driver are also helpful to
not only you but others because you are being a role model for those
who may need to see themselves how to be a safer driver. You
demonstrating safe driving techniques could remind the person sitting
next to you in the passenger seat what their suppose to do safely
when their behind the wheel themselves.

Every
small precaution and every safe and defensive driving technique are
important and can go a long way in the end. Everyone should be able
to leave their home, get in the car, and return home safely.