Driver Education

Growing up my dad taught me how to drive on my grandparents farm. I learned the basics of driving, the feel of a vehicle and how to handle a car on dirt roads but it wasn’t until driver’s education that I learned more of the importance of driving on my own. Like driving on the road with others, what to do in stressful situations, how to park, driving at higher speeds, what and who to look out for, and all the proper rules of the road. I did find it helpful to learn how to handle a vehicle at a young age and felt it helped me stay calm, and prepared me to be a better driver as I was learning in drivers education. I do think every parent should take their child out to practice driving starting out in an empty parking lot or on a family farm like I did before taking drivers education so they feel more comfortable like I did.

Driver Education to me was very helpful and taught me a lot of great skills. A few of those are identifying road signs and what to be cautious of, determining the right of way and being courteous to other drivers, how to drive in school and construction zones, using turning lanes and turn signals properly, sharing the road with cyclists, merging into traffic safely and in a calm manner and what to do in an emergency. Learning these skills is important in helping one make good decisions and can help reduce the number of deaths in driving accidents.

Steps I feel that can be taken to help reduce the number of deaths in car accidents are: to ensure every teen takes driver education before getting their license; insist that all passengers in your vehicle wear their seatbelt before moving the vehicle; always drive the speed limit and be aware of speed changes; put away mobile devices when you are the driver; don’t let your passengers be a distraction to you; make necessary changes to your seat, mirrors and radio before you start moving; don’t drive in bad weather conditions; keeping a good distance in heavy traffic situations; don’t drive when you are tired; and always be aware of your surroundings.

I have been in one minor car accident in my life where I was the driver and caused the accident. I was driving to work one day when traffic in town was heavier than usual due to college graduation weekend. I was paying too much attention to the light ahead of me and not the one I was about to drive through. The light I was approaching was a stale green light and once I came up to the intersection I didn’t notice the light had already changed because I was focused on the light ahead of me. I ran the red light and was hit from the side by another car who had the right of way. Luckily we were all wearing our seat belts and no one was hurt. But unfortunately my car was totaled. The situation could have been much worse.

Another time I was in an accident, I was stopped at a red light and someone ran into the back of me because they were not paying attention to the road. They only caused very minor damages to both our cars. I do feel I had to learn a lesson the hard way but it has made me more aware and I have learned to be cautious when approaching a stop light. I hope others can learn from my mistake by being more aware as well and being more cautious when traffic is heavier.

Some steps I can take to become a better driver and help others be a better driver are to: look ahead but not too far ahead; pay attention to stale green lights; avoid distractions at all costs; know where I am going and map it out in advance if I am are not familiar with an area; watch out for bad drivers and not to feed into their behaviors; don’t follow too close to vehicles in front of me; staying calm in stressful situations; practice driving in different driving conditions including different weather conditions; increase following distance in bad weather conditions; and lastly always follow the rules of the road.

All in all, I highly encourage everyone to take a driving education course before obtaining your driver’s license to help reduce the number of car accidents and accidents that could lead to someone losing one’s life.