How Drivers Education Creates a Safe Society

Drivers education is the most important stepping stone when teens and young adults are learning how to drive. Before getting behind the wheel, minors are able to go through an online course then behind the wheel lessons in order to learn almost everything there is to know about driving. The online course is the first step in learning how to drive and rightfully so as it would not be safe for anyone to get behind a wheel without knowing the proper laws, techniques, street signs, etc. When I was completing my own online drivers education I was shocked by how much information is provided in just one lesson. As a sixteen year old who is learning how to drive and has already completed an online drivers education course, I can say that it has been one of the most helpful things during this process as it educates and protects young adults like myself before they go out on the road.

A whole drivers education course covers a range of topics from what to do at stop signs and what the lines in the middle of the road mean, all the way to what to do if you get into an accident. It goes through countless scenarios teaching people what to do in specific situations while on the road and talks you through different processes that may seem simple when observing our parents or other adults drive, but in reality can actually be quite complicated to new drivers, such as backing up or parking. The course even went as in depth as to talk about car maintenance and insurance, which is hard to understand but important to know the basics of for the future. The same things apply to behind the wheel courses which can be more beneficial than learning from our guardians or other adults since these instructors were trained on how to teach physical concepts that are hard to explain verbally. These courses are overall quite educational and provide all the necessary information needed to start driving safely.

Learning all this information did get overwhelming and there were sections where I questioned if this was really important knowledge that I was reading. Then I got through it and looking back now having started actually driving I know that every section is important and everything my driving instructor says is important. All of it is key because this information is given to protect myself and others in the case of an unfortunate scenario. Protection is important because teen drivers are highly prone to accidents and car related deaths, which is pretty scary to a new driver. However learning how to best avoid these incidents and what to do if they do occur helps to calm those nerves slightly. Though it’s not enough to just remember information, we have to take active steps to staying safe while on the road by using signals, staying calm, and calling out unsafe driving when you see it. I think that it is crucial and everyone’s responsibility including my own to report drunk drivers when you see it on the road and tell a responsible adult if you hear about friends or kids at school being unsafe behind the wheel.

In the book The Great Gatsby, something that really stood out to me was that in one chapter, a character Jordan Baker describes how she is a bad driver. She says she is a bad driver because her logic is that if everyone else on the road is being careful and driving safe, then she would be just fine. It stood out to me because I know there are people out there with the same logic, people that do not take responsibility for themselves and relies on everyone else to do it for them. This is scary as a new driver knowing that there are people your age and even adults like this out on the road who could put you in a bad situation at any given moment. I think that drivers education can help prevent this type of logic where people are not considerate of the dangers of driving as it starts the learning process with how to be safe and keep other people safe when behind the wheel. I think that drivers education is so important and should be required for all drivers before getting their license in order to lower the number of deaths due to car accidents and driving related incidents because everyone deserves to be safe when they’re on the road.