A Split Second

Jessica Niegocki

Drivers ed Initiative

30 June 2020

A Split Second

1.35 million per year. That’s nearly 4,000 deaths a day due to car accidents. That’s thousands of lives altered in an instance. One wrong move, one bad decision, can leave blood on your hands in a matter of seconds. Could this all be prevented? Many of these accidents could possibly be stopped before they occur if the driver or pedestrian had the knowledge that drivers ed provides. Not only that, but knowledge leads to confidence, and confident driving reduces car accidents. A recent UNL study found that young drivers that have not taken a drivers ed course are 24 percent more likely to get in a fatal or injury causing car accident and 16 percent more likely to be in a car accident compared to students who did undergo a drivers ed course.

Two years ago, I was in a car accident. My family and I were headed to California for a softball tournament, and due to my dad’s recent cancer fight (which he won), I was placed in the driver’s seat. It was dark and windy, and as someone who has taken a drivers ed course, I knew that this made the road more dangerous and kept my eye out for obstacles on the road. If only everyone on the road knew this too. A few miles ahead of me, a car had hit a hay bale and stalled out in the middle of the road and instead of pulling off the road, he tried to restart his car in the middle of the freeway. In a split second, I side swiped his car trying to avoid him, but it was too late. With my head trapped against the window by an airbag, I felt the car shift as a large semi just barely missed us. Things could have ended much worse, but a knowledge of the road and driving could have prevented the scenario entirely.

Drivers ed is not currently required for all students, but it should be. It should be taught young to encourage safer and more confident driving. Students should be taught to be attentive and look out for less knowledgeable drivers. They should be taught the rules of the road and how to be a safer driver. By requiring this simple, yet effective class, accidents could be stopped before they occur and lives could be saved. Too many lives have been lost to reckless and irresponsible driving, when the solution is so simple. We are the generation known to make a change, so let’s do what we’re known for.