The Driving Curriculum

Driving has always been around since the early twentieth century, it has only been since 1966 though that safety regulations were pushed heavily for new cars, like seatbelts and dashboards with airbags which didn’t go into effect until 1968 (“Automobile Safety.” National Museum of American History). These safety regulations really helped with diminishing the amount of fatalities when it came to car crashes, but I personally believe that as a country we have failed to implement better educational avenues to help reduce the risk of car crashes in the first place. When I received my driver’s permit at the age of 17, all I did was study a small pamphlet and go in and take a computer test to acquire my driver’s permit. I only had to receive a 60 percent to pass and get that permit. I failed once before I was able to get the said permit, and then I set up my driver’s license test in which I drove around a parking lot, did a three-point turn and my test was over. I was able to have my license. It was almost scary how easy it was.

There were no mandatory classes in my state (Arizona) before requiring my license or permit, in fact you aren’t forced to take any driving courses unless you are involved in a car accident and are at fault. Why aren’t we having school age kids take preventive driving courses before they even get their permits? We hope that their parents will take the time to help teach and guide them when in reality some if not most parents don’t have the time, or just don’t think of teaching their child something so basic that comes to them almost naturally at this point. There’s not enough education involved with driving so that’s where we see tons of situations of parents driving around without their kids in a car seat, or serious accidents caused by some sort of small negligence. I also believe that people should be forced to take the driver’s license test more than once, at least once every decade to help make sure that they don’t forget any vital information. Just like how all healthcare professions are forced to renew their CPR and first aid certifications every two years. Both comparisons deal with life and death on the daily, just one of them doesn’t realize it until it is too late and they are in a fatal car accident themselves.

I can’t even remember ever having been in a car seat my whole life when I was younger whenever my mom was driving, and it has taken me having my own kids and paying for private car seat lessons to find out how wrong and dangerous this was. I don’t blame my mother for not knowing this information but I do blame our education system for failing her in that regard. I believe that to fix this crash epidemic that we are experiencing is to educate as much as possible.

I currently have taken steps to making sure that me and my loved ones are safe while driving by making sure everyone has a car seat or seat belt on at all times, I also am very mindful of the road and make sure to keep my eyes on all mirrors and on the road in front of me at all times. I never wear headphones while driving and never play music too loud so that way I also can hear what is going on around me as well. Street signs are no stranger to my eyes too as I always read them and pay close attention to any changes to the road that may come up while driving. What also helps me stay alert and able to change with the flow of traffic is not going over the speed limit and taking things nice and slow. Whenever I take a lane change I give myself a supple amount of space and time to complete the lane change, especially on fast paced highways.

With so many people who use the roads and cars as a form of transportation, I am really surprised that there isn’t more push to have mandatory curriculum in schools or even classes that the government provides since it is so vital to driving safely. The best way to fix our problems is to take arms through information, since information is the best way to fight any battle out there. This way when crashes do happen we know that it isn’t from some informational error and that whoever caused the crash can have their license rightfully revoked because they are then a danger to society and the lives of others.

Works Cited:

“Automobile Safety.” National Museum of American History, 28 Aug. 2018, americanhistory.si.edu/america-on-the-move/essays/automobile-safety.