Why Driver’s Education

Each day over 78% of commuters use a car and “more than 38,000 people die every year in crashes on U.S. roadways,” according to the association for safe international road travel. Driving cars is the most used form of transportation and is also the most deadly which seems surreal as many may think that airplanes have caused the most amount of deaths and accidents. A common belief is that Airplane crashes are the most dangerous type of transportation because these crashes are in the news more. Airplane crashes that cause deaths are more dramatic, newsworthy, and attract more attention. You may not hear about car crashes everyday because they may not be a good story to cover in the news, so less people pay attention to crash stories as they are less dramatic and happen daily. The only car crash stories you may hear on the news are bizarre crashes like a multi car pile up or a drunk driver crashing and killing multiple people. When thinking of the average car deaths per day, 103, it is unimaginable because many of these crashes could have been prevented.

Many of you may have been in an accident or know a loved one who was in an accident as there are 6 million car crashes a year. Many of these crashes contain first year drivers or second year drivers as nationwide, 43 percent of first-year drivers and 37 percent of second-year drivers are involved in car crashes. Many of these crashes are caused by distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving, reckless driving, and driver errors, all which could be avoided if properly educated on how to drive defensively. Driver’s education classes and the path to your drivers license is like your path from walking to running, pre-school to college, the steps you take in your journey are important to set you up to become a safe driver. Without learning how to properly walk, you can not run, without passing preliminary school, you could not go to college and earn a degree. This is like driver’s education, without proper education you could not safely drive on the road putting yourself and others at risk.

Driver’s education is important as it teaches one how to be a defensive driver and how to protect yourself and others around you, reducing your chances of being in an accident. Driver’s education courses teach good judgment, common sense, and defensive driving. If a driver is properly educated and trained it reduces their chance of becoming a hazard on the road. Accidents will never come to halt as some are unpreventable, but we can limit the amount of accidents that occur and therefore reduce the amount of preventable deaths. Drivers should develop the right defensive attitude towards driving, should have enough practice, always wear a seatbelt, don’t be under the influence, keep your speed under control, and not use a cellphone behind the wheel.

Accidents happen daily and though I have not been in a car crash, my Dad and older sibling have been. Their crashes did not cause any injuries but it was a scary moment for them. They explained afterwards that these car crashes were preventable as they were too close to the car in front of them. I myself have also seen crashes happen in person at the school parking lot and the roads nearby. A person I know was involved in a car crash due to inclement weather and poor driving tactics. Many of the other accidents I have seen were caused by impatience and aggressive driving, these could be prevented if the driver has better experience and better maturity.

I myself may not be a perfect driver either but I continue to learn how to drive safely everyday by practicing on the road under my permit. My first day behind the wheel was surreal and a feeling I have never experienced, I was in control of a 3,000 pound moving weapon and could potentially harm someone. I started off in the school parking lot during the summer where there were no cars. I did not want to damage my parent’s car or someone else’s. I started off slow and eventually got the hang of it after a day or two, or so I thought, my parents brought me on to the road and it was totally different from the parking lot as there were turns, curvy roads, stop lights, speed limits, and other cars. I was nervous driving on the road but after some time I was able to calm myself down and started to learn more and more about driving. I attended driver’s education classes because I knew that driving was dangerous and could put yourself or others in harm’s way. After taking these classes I found new techniques and now when I drive I try to use defensive driving techniques and create a better attitude on the road. Driver’s education and accidents should get more news coverage and if it is taken seriously it will help improve everyone’s driving skills and create a safer driving environment.