Why is Driver’s Education So Important?

Driver’s Education, or Driver’s Ed, is an important course to take because it allows young and new drivers to learn not just about how to drive, but also about road safety, road information, road laws, and reducing deaths on the road. Many states require Driver’s Ed to be taken in order to receive a driver’s license, and I think this is a great idea. Without the knowledge from Driver’s Ed, many people would not be able to drive safely on the roads, putting others in danger.

On average, there are about 34,000 automotive deaths a year in the United States. This may not seem like a big number, but nobody should have to fear dying when they step into a vehicle. Driver’s Education was put in place to help educate those people who are pursuing their driver’s license on the importance of road knowledge and safety. Driver’s ed is usually a four-day course, with at least thirty hours of driving with an instructor. After driving with an instructor and passing, you go to the OMV to get you Driver’s Permit. Before you can get your license, you must drive with your permit for six months for a certain number of hours. After the six months are up, you go back to you Driver’s Ed instructor and take the Driver’s Test, where you drive and must pass in order to get your license. But before you can do any of this, you must participate in the four-day classroom portion of Driver’s Ed.

During the four-day classroom portion of Driver’s Ed, you will learn everything you will need in order to be able to drive. You will learn about road signs and what they mean, road laws and how to abide by them, driving techniques and how to use them, vehicles and how they work, general driving information, ways to prevent certain incidents/accidents, and so much more. You will receive knowledge from a driving instructor who teaches all these topics to you in your classroom time. One of the most important things you learn in the classroom is how to be a safe and aware driver to protect other drivers on the road. This may seem like way too many steps just to be able to drive, many people go through these steps and still don’t know how to be safe on the road.

In 2019, the leading cause of death in the United States was car accidents. In Louisiana, my home state, there were over 750 deaths in 2021 caused by car accidents. There are more car accidents in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Within the United States, Texas holds the title for most deaths involving car accidents. In one year in the United States, there are over 6 million car accidents, luckily, only a handful of them being fatal. All these facts are important because it shows us just how much we need to be educated on road information and road safety. Therefore, Driver’s Ed is and will always be such an important course to take. Not just so that you can drive wherever and whenever you want, but so that while you are on the road, you are not endangering other people.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were over 20,000 people who died from car crashes in just the first half of 2021. While some of these deaths may not have been caused by other drivers on the road, most of them were. Without proper education about driving, these numbers will continue to rise, and more people will die from car accidents. Some of these accidents may be avoidable by state intervention of repairing roadways and related objects. Nevertheless, there will always be accidents that involve vehicle-on-vehicle action and result in deaths. When you get into your vehicle, you shouldn’t have the fear that you may not survive your drive because of other drivers on the road. Educating drivers will help reduce the need for that fear in our drivers.

Many people believe that Driver’s Ed is a waste of money, waste of time, or even just a way for their state to make more money. But in fact, it is a way to help us become more knowledgeable about driving and driving safety to help better protect others on the road. Taking the Driver’s Ed course not only helps a person get a license, but also helps save other people’s lives by being a safe driver.

 

 

 

Bibliography

Office, Press. “USDOT Releases New Data Showing That Road Fatalities Spiked in First Half of 2021.” NHTSA, DOT, 28 Oct. 2021, https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/usdot-releases-new-data-showing-road-fatalities-spiked-first-half-2021