Driving Safe

Although I was lucky enough to have parents who taught me how to drive, so many people aren’t as fortunate. My parents taught me that my driving education was important to keep myself and others alive. My mom’s first lesson to me was “Your car is a weapon, it is capable of harming you and others if used irresponsibly.” I now think about that lesson every time I get into my car. That is why driving education is important to reduce deaths while on the road. Without this, new drivers may be unaware of ways to protect themselves and others while on the road.

Driver’s education is important because without this education, many drivers wouldn’t know how to properly use a motorised vehicle. Knowing how to safely operate our cars and motorcycles in the first step in reducing the number of fatalities on the road. Driver’s education is also important because they can teach you different ways to stay safe on the road. This lesson is not always grasped by new drivers since most driver education is done online nowadays! Me and most of my friends took our driver’s tests and courses online. Most of my friends cheated on their tests, which makes them ill prepared for driving and its seriousness. More precautions should be taken to make sure new drivers who take courses online are getting the full educational experience. For example: They should have to do a report back each week for what they learned for each course. Something to make sure these students are actually learning something in their online courses.

Different steps one can take are taking different defensive driving programs like B.R.A.K.E.S. teach students how to keep themselves safe if themselves or others are put in danger while driving. The course teaches students how to hard brake, skid recovery, and more life saving techniques that can be used on the road. In fact, 90% of BRAKES students report not having any problems on the road for three years after taking the course! Courses like these can help people save themselves and others from reckless driving.

I have been in a minor car crash since my father was driving irresponsibly. My family and I were leaving church and my dad sped to make the yellow light. The only problem was a car was in front of him and broke hard, causing my dad to crash into their trunk. Luckly, no one was hurt and the cars didn’t even have a dent. Although this was a minor accident, it could have turned out much worse for us. I have also witnessed my friends driving irresponsibly. A friend picked me up from my house once while diving while high. I immediately told him to pull over and I got a ride from a different friend that I trusted. Even the small things like texting while driving can be a big problem when trying to keep people safe on the road. So many of my friends have run red lights simply because they were changing the music on their phone while in their car! If small distractions and unwise actions were put to the side for a small amount of time, so many people could reduce the number of deaths while driving!

The steps I can take to become a better driver is to learn how to drive in unsafe conditions. My current college is located in the mountains where we get a lot of snow. I have unfortunately not been able to learn how to drive in said snow because my mom was too scared of me crashing. Although I am a responsible driver, my mom knows that many others are not. Therefore, when next winter comes I would like to learn how to drive in the icy conditions just in case of an emergency. I can also be a better driver by muting my phone while driving. Although I never text while driving, wherever I get a notification I look down fast to see who the notification was from. This quick action could cause me to get into an accident one day, so maybe silencing my phone is the best option while I am driving.

Although many young drivers hate the fact that they need drivers education, the fact is that this education saves hundreds of lives each year. This education should be taken more seriously by new drivers since it can save themselves and others while on the road. “Your car is a weapon, it is capable of harming you and others if used irresponsibly.” should be the new lesson given to drivers to make sure they understand the severity and seriousness of driving dangerously.