The Importance Of Driver’s Education

To become a licensed driver, you need to take a driver’s education class in high school, or a five hour course. To get my license, I took driver’s education. I took the class during the height of COVID-19, so I only got Zoom classes, and no driving experience with my teacher. But, I did drive a whole lot with my parents. I got my permit on my birthday, January 5th, so I had lots of snow driving experience.

I believe that people taking driving courses is a very important thing. When driving, everyone can see so many people who are still not very good at driving. This is why driver’s education is extremely important. A lot of people have no one else to teach them how to drive besides their teacher.

My sister had to take a five hour course because when she was getting her license, our school wasn’t offering driver’s ed. at all because of COVID. She drove a lot with our parents.

To reduce deaths by vehicle related incidents, people can stop being distracted while driving. So many people will pull out their phone to check a text or a notification while they are behind the wheel. Those people should pull over to text back, or they should ignore their phone completely. Whatever is on there can wait until the driver is parked.

Another way to reduce vehicle accident deaths is for people who are drunk or high to not drive. Their brains are altered, and it is illegal to drive in that state. They should have a friend, or someone else who is not drunk or high, to drive them around. These people are extremely dangerous on the road, and they can’t even tell.

One other way is for people to just slow down while driving. Some people are just in a hurry, and others just feel like they’re going slow if they drive the speed limit. So many people get hurt in their vehicles because they’re going too fast on normal roads, or wet roads.

I was in a horrible car accident with my mom on May 8th, 2018. I was 13 years old, and in 7th grade. My mom was driving us to the bank after school. To get to the bank, you have to go through the on and off ramps to the highway. It is a very dangerous stop because just before the highway is the truck stop, so there’s a lot of tractor trailers, and just people driving fast because it’s a straightaway.

My mom was just driving the speed limit, because she never liked to drive that much and didn’t like to speed. A woman was coming off of the off ramp, and seemed to not see us, because she was going really fast. My mom hit the brakes lightly, but then the woman slowed down. So my mom let off the brakes. That’s when it happened. The woman hit her gas pedal and t-boned my mom and I.

I had broken my right femur, and had a bloody nose and whiplash. The woman crashed into my side. My mom broke her entire right leg besides her shin, and she broke nine ribs. It was so hot in the car, and the fumes made me not able to breathe well. Eventually, a firefighter eating at the truck stop ripped our doors open.

To this day, my leg is not completely better. I was still growing when I broke it, and so my right leg is an inch shorter than the left one. It hurts all the time, and hurts worse in the cold.

This year and last year, I’m taking a public safety and justice course. In this class, it reflects what a police/fire/military academy is like. We exercise two days a week, and running always hurts my leg to where I can’t walk.

In this public safety class, we also learn about laws, and safe driving. It is also a safety course, kind of like driver’s education. Not exactly like it, but the teachers teach us a lot about safe driving.

I think I could become better as a safe driver by slowing down. I’m never in a hurry, I just feel like I’m going slow. The usual speed limit is 55 mph. I usually go 5-10 over the limit by accident. On the other hand, when there’s a limit under 55 mph, I always go the exact speed limit. My brain will not mind going the speed limit then.

I think driver’s ed. and public safety have helped me a lot as I get better and better at driving. I never want to be in another accident, as they are very horrific things. Nobody deserves to be in a vehicle accident.