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Name: Viliami
Votes: 48
Why Drivers Education Is Important To Me
I would like to write about my personal experiences with driver education. My parents could not afford to send us to school for driver ed so my mom did the online version and she was my instructor. With the online lessons I did see many photos and videos of things that can go wrong while driving and it was pretty graphic. I have now been driving for three years and I have absolutely seen the benefits of taking the drivers education course. When you are young it seems like a right of passage and getting to drive is just the next step in life. Because of driver’s education I was more equipped to handle the stress and learned to always stay focused on those around me. The driver’s education class taught me that driving is actually a very big responsibility that should be taken seriously. There is freedom with being able to drive, but knowing how to do this safely makes it an even better experience.
Some of the obvious steps that can take place to reduce the number of deaths while driving is putting away the cell phones. That was definitely one of the things my mom, as my instructor insisted on for safety reasons. She told me stories about herself almost getting hit at a red light by a diesel because she was on her phone while the light had been green and the diesel had been coming at her full speed. Another and very important step in my family is the use of the seatbelts for all passengers. I have many stories for this, but I will just mention one of my most tragic. My Cousin Gaius Keio Veanuku had just accepted a division one football scholarship to the University of Utah and had moved up there at the start of summer after his senior year in order to work out. All of my cousins are very notorious for never wearing seatbelts in cars. He had wanted to come home one last time before school started to surprise his family and unfortunately on the long drive back he lost his life in a horrible car accident, as well as two other passengers in the car, a 14 year old and his brother who was another young collegiate football player. The only two survivors of the car accident were both the only people in the car wearing seatbelts, I
believe to this day if they had their seatbelts on they could all still be here with us. It is taught that the seat belt doesn’t just protect the person wearing it, but all passengers in the car from being hit by a person if ejected from their seat.
Being in high school I have seen a ton of irresponsible drivers in the parking lot and around the school. My favorite time was when a kid was peeling out in the parking lot and an officer just happened to be right there and pulled him over. My mom always talks about the kids trying to “show off” or just excited for everyone to see that they can drive now. I have a little sister in driver’s education online with my mom as her instructor, so I try to be the best example for her I can be. I have experienced being in a car accident with my older brother driving a pretty bad one at that. He was taking me to football and while he was driving he was looking around the car for a hair tie and ran directly into a brick mailbox. My mom’s car was totaled and we were both shaken up pretty good. I learned at that moment how quick something can happen while driving and keeping your eyes on the road is very important.
My first step to being a safe driver is my seatbelt, and I require all of my passengers to wear one as well. Seatbelts have never been an option growing up, and I have now personally lost more than one person due to no seatbelts, it will never be an option. I have had several younger teammates ride with me to events and I hope that they see me as a responsible driver. My friends have shown proof of learning by example, my friend Taylor Harris now requires all passengers to put a seat belt on before he puts the car in drive. I know many of my friends’ parents were worried about letting them ride with a teenager, but they knew my personality and my parents so they were comforted and felt their boys were safe.