This One Tip Saves Lives!

Driver’s education is one of the most important classes you will ever take in your lifetime. This class teaches you how to be a smart driver and what it takes to become one. Drivers ed gives people the skills to confidently operate a vehicle correctly. In some cases Drivers ed can save lives by giving students the experience of what to do in a plethora of situations that they will have to face in their lifetime. One of the most important skills we learn in Drivers ed is the ability to perceive what others are doing on the road. Once you master this skill, you as the driver can be much more confident on the road. People who don’t have this skill might be afraid of being next to other cars, feel anxious when someone is behind them, etc… They can endanger themselves and others due to their lack of confidence behind the wheel. That is why learning the skills in Drivers education is vital to be a successful driver.

My driver’s ed instructor, Mr. King, told the class to “Drive like everyone else can’t drive”. That saying has stuck with me and will stay with me for the rest of my life. I genuinely believe that this saying is the key to being a defensive driver and can reduce the number of driving related deaths. The most common reason for driving related deaths is driver errors (distracted driving, speeding, poor decision making, etc…). We as humans make many errors a day and know that we have to alter our mindset on the road as “this is everyone’s first time driving”. This mindset switch will make the driver more aware of the people around them and they can react accordingly. This is a good step in the right direction to reducing the 34,000 annual deaths a year caused by accidents.

Another precaution we as drivers can take is what we do before we drive. We should never drive under the influence of anything in any circumstance. DUI accidents are over ⅓ of the yearly deaths caused in accidents (about 10,000). There are many ways to reduce the amount of DUI accidents and one way is to be responsible and don’t get behind the wheel after you had some fun and drank a little. Instead of driving, ask a friend or family member, call an Uber, or get a taxi. All that people have to do to reduce this number is just ask for help for others. It’s the most simple way to eventually get the DUI accident number down to zero.

A really easy way to reduce the death numbers and be safer on the road is to remain calm while driving. Yes even if an elderly person is driving slow or someone cuts you off in a lane. Just remain calm and carry on about your day. Getting emotional while driving is very dangerous because you don’t think clearly and you might end up making poor decisions on the road which could end up being fatal. Staying calm is also pretty easy to implement in your driving as well. Instead of getting angry at someone for driving “wrong”, just keep calm and keep going on about your day. This quick change in attitude behind the wheel can reduce so many unnecessary deaths on the road. About 1 in 3 of car collisions involve road rage; that statistic is way too high. It’s just people getting emotional and then getting into accidents which could cost them lots of money or worse, their lives.

I have never been in an accident before but a few of my friends have been in an accident. Those same people used to speed and swerve through the lanes all around town but now they are some of the safest drivers I have met. A few other friends sometimes drive and look at their phones at the same time and when I ride with them, it makes me very nervous because they aren’t focused on the road and could hit someone. All it takes is just one second, one glimpse at the phone and not the road, just to wind up in a possible fatal accident.

I would like to believe that I am a safe driver but there are still plenty of things I can implement to be a defensive driver. One of which is to not rush things. I usually do things last minute which means I am always rushing to one thing and to the next. So I may go over the speed limit and not wait as long as I should. Instead I should just wait, remain calm and be patient. I mean it’s better for me to just be late than never show up at all. Another thing I can do to further improve my driving is to be safe with my friends in the car. I shouldn’t start the car until they are all thoroughly buckled in and secure in the seat before I start to drive. I believe taking things more slowly on the road and making sure everyone, including myself, is safe before I start driving will make me a safer driver on the road and help me from not getting into an accident. To help my friends be better drivers, I should call them out about unsafe driving. Even if my friends don’t like me saying something about it or they think im “not cool” for saying something about their bad habits behind the wheel, I wouldn’t care about that at all and would rather be looking out for their safety than just let them do what they were originally doing while driving. I think we can all learn a lot from driver’s education but we can also learn from each other as well. Everyone is human which means we all make mistakes in our daily lives. But taking a step back and thinking about what others are doing can really help people not make unnecessary and possibly fatal mistakes.