Defensive Driving Courses Help Save Lives

My initial dream was the thought of sitting behind a wheel of a burnt orange Lamborghini Sian. Honestly, I did not want to take a defensive driving course or drivers education class because I initially thought it was a waste of time. Some of my friends did also. We used to make fun of some of the people who were in the defensive driving courses in class when we walked by them in high school but then one day, I learned the hardest lesson of my life. My friend was in a car accident and ended up in a coma. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and went directly through the windshield. Some of the simple things you learn in driver’s education class, like putting on a seat belt before turning on the ignition or at least before pulling out of a stationary position. My perspective changed at the very moment while watching my friend lying motionless in the hospital bed as I turned to look at his parents with tears running down their eyes while listening to the doctors who were explaining their son may not wake up. For the first time in my young adult life, I gained a true understanding of what it meant to be a responsible driver.

Learning responsible driving is a necessity because it takes a certain amount of skill to be able to maneuver on the road today. You can only gain the proper knowledge in a defensive driving course because it prepares you to watch out for the unexpected. What I failed to understand was that taking written and practice-based test only taught me the practical application. The defensive driving course taught me the skills to keep me safe and to think. In addition, drivers on the road are unpredictable. In the course you are taught to stop and think so that when unpredictable situations occur how to respond. This response is called a preventive measure. This type of forward thinking lends itself to reducing the number of accidents. An example on how I utilize this instruction in every day situation is I don’t expect a driver to stop on red. Some drivers continue through the red light. I wait until a driver comes to a full stop on red before I proceed. There would be an astronomical reduction in the proportion of accident if all the drivers just practiced this one technique. This increases driver’s inexperience which is one of the danger zones indicated by the CDC for teens.

Road rage is a major issue because an individual loses the ability to control his or her emotions. As a result, the person causes severe injury to a person which in some cases results in death. My instructor taught me to take my own temperature before getting into my car which means understanding how I feel. I can’t control how the other person is going to react to me but only how I am going to react to them. There have been many times when a person has stuck up their middle finger and stop short in their car. I had already prepared for the unexpected, knew how I was feeling and the next lesson I learned was to be alert with no distractions. I wasn’t on my phone or daydreaming. The CDC also indicates also indicates that distraction is a danger zone for teens.

My athletic career is paramount which is one of the reasons using alcohol or drugs is not acceptable and you absolutely should not drive a vehicle under the influence of any mind- or mood-altering substance. Defensive Driving course showed me that there is approximately 30 people dying daily due to alcohol related deaths due to vehicular accidents. There is no reason to get behind a wheel after using any amount of a substance especially since there are some many rides share available. It was eye opening experience learn the small amount of substance that can cause impairment of the body and the statistical data that was provided to show the death related to the poor choices made by individuals.

“Take My Temperature” which is what I do before I get into my vehicle. This allows me to examine how I feel emotionally and physically before I step into my vehicle. Now I can take the time to provide any preventive measures that may be necessary to get into the car with a better mindset. This will increase my ability drive more effectively. Also, I learned how to in addition, what are the steps to remain calm, recognize a volatile situation and the proper steps to follow? Furthermore, how using mind- or mood-altering substance impact your driving abilities and contribute to the increase in vehicular deaths. Moreover, that a legal substance was contributing to one-third of the deaths, and it is promoted so readily on a social platform as such a great product.

Defensive Driving course should be a requirement for every driver who takes a driving test because it targets specific areas that have been shown significant in accidents, like alcohol related deaths, no seatbelts, distracted driving, phone usage

.