Be smart, Drive Safe.

Many people question the importance of driver education, so throughout my essay that is what I will be talking about. Learning the correct way to drive is very beneficial to not only the driver but their passengers as well, as well as whoever they are driving by. During a driving education class drivers learn many different things including how to read certain signs, how to drive in different weather conditions, illegal turns, speed limits, penalties for reckless driving and mainly the basic things that people often don’t listen to. Instructors teach many things but the most important ones that commonly cause accidents these days are speeding, and distracted driving. When people are taught how important these things are they will more than likely remember them when driving.

Let’s talk about the steps that people can take to reduce or even prevent the deaths that have been caused related to driving. Sadly there are so many car accidents that happen mostly always on accident.The most basic step that many people tend to skip is always wearing a seatbelt, many don’t realize how important this step can be. If you were to get in a crash a seatbelt helps keep you safe inside your vehicle. If you don’t wear a seatbelt and you were to get into a crash you could be completely ejected from your vehicle, or thrown into your airbag, even though that doesn’t sound life threatening such force could seriously injure you or even kill you. Another step people can take is to NEVER get behind the wheel if they have been drinking or have taken any other drugs, not only does this put their life in danger, it puts everyone around them at risk. The easiest thing to do is call an uber, or close friend, or even family member. Many people just don’t want to spend the money or are too scared of getting in trouble, but those consequences compared to driving while under the influence are way better than what could happen. Many people are guilty of at least speeding once in their life, but what if I told you that was a big reason accidents are caused, speeding to get somewhere will only lessen your time by a little, it’s not worth the gambits it could involve. Lastly make sure you are comfortable behind the wheel, make sure you’ve practiced many times before especially driving on the highway, make sure you know what certain road signs are and how to drive in certain situations including weather conditions, all this practice could help if you come into a bad situation. The more you know the better.

One day I was with my friend and we were at a park playing basketball and suddenly we looked at the time and realized that we were both past our curfews. When we noticed that we quickly picked up our stuff and went to the car. As we were taking off our other friend popped out of the back seat and scared us. He asked if we could take him home but he lived on the other side of town so we told him that he should just ride with the others who did not have to go home yet, we then had to turn around because we had to drop him back off at the park. After we dropped him back off my friend was in an even bigger rush so she quickly reversed without looking. All of a sudden we heard a loud thud and started freaking out. I told her to get out of the car to see what she hit, thankfully it was not anyone but it was someone’s car; thank gosh our friend was not in the trunk anymore because her back end was completely smashed. Although the other car did not have too much damage her’s was totaled. Thankfully no one was hurt. If we both would have looked and she would have driven slower this accident wouldn’t have happened. This was a good lesson for the both of us and to this day I always make sure to double check what’s behind me and to back out slowly. I also learned that it too is important for the passenger to help look for cars or other things when driving so they can help warn the driver.

Personal steps that I and many others can take to become a better driver is to always pay attention to our surroundings—paying close attention can help to avoid anything unnecessary. Another thing I can do as a driver is to cut out any distractions, for example I can connect my phone to bluetooth before I start driving and then place my phone in a cubby so I have no distractions. I can also make sure I am watching my speed and to always go slower in residential areas, especially slowing down by schools and in construction zones. Another thing is to make sure I am following cars from a good distance. Riding other cars just tends to frustrate them even more. I can always double-check for pedestrians walking at stoplights just in case. Lastly, I can always check my mirrors when changing lanes. All of these things are important and make driving more safe if done.