Drivers Ed Essay

Driver’s education reduces the number of vehicular deaths by teaching people how to be more aware of their surroundings and to be more cognizant of their limitations. Many first time drivers, especially younger ones, are so excited to drive that they’re reckless or negligent. However, recklessness and negligence when driving can at best cost a lot of money in repairs and at worst end in fatalities. However, many first time drivers are unaware of this because they believe that they are invincible or that they’re too smart to get into an accident.

The main step to reducing vehicular deaths is removing distractions before driving. Many guides will instruct people to not text and drive or talk on their cellphone. However, I’m going to focus on advice that isn’t discussed as often, alongside some general advice. Much of this will be based on personal experience and observations of people I know.

You need to be cognizant of your own limitations when it comes to ignoring distractions. For example, I know a person that often shuts off the radio when on the highway or in a city because it would be too distracting in those situations. By contrast, I don’t listen to music at all because I know that I would subconsciously focus on it too much instead of my surroundings. When it comes to eating while driving, my mother advised only doing so when safe and after several years of driving. Personally, I don’t think that I will ever eat while driving. I’m not a fan of driving because I find it boring and stressful, so I minimize my distractions so I can focus all my energy on driving despite the temptation to let my mind wander.

That said, I know people that find driving relaxing. However, they remain cognizant of their surroundings because for them, driving can be so relaxing that they zone out. They do this by paradoxically focusing on other things. Sometimes they listen to music or the radio and other times they talk with passengers to keep themselves stimulated. By doing so, they remain awake enough, figuratively or in some cases literally that they don’t zone out and thus can be aware of their surroundings. It should be noted that they can do both actions safely due to years of driving experience. Additionally, they know when to focus entirely on driving. Usually, they do this when on unfamiliar or very busy roads, in part because those situations are stimulating enough on their own that they don’t zone out.

In regards to being aware of your surroundings, I would also advise letting your instinct guide you, albeit in very specific scenarios. For example, where I live there, is a road where the posted speed limit is 55, but there are so many sharp curves that driving at that speed is dangerous, if not nigh impossible, especially during the winter. Although the speed limit is high, I always drive below it because it’s not safe in that situation. Also, I’ve seen people trying to do the posted speed limit have to keep slamming on the brakes at every curve. Besides wasting gas with the constant acceleration and deceleration and damaging the brakes over time, it also presents the danger of losing control, especially on icy roads. Point being in this instance, if you don’t feel comfortable driving at the posted speed limit and it’s safe to do so, you can slow down.

I was also in a car accident when I was very young and teenager rearended our car. Everyone was fine but both cars received some damage and ours had to be towed. Although I was too young to understand what had happened at the time, I now know that the teenager had been talking on his cell phone and wasn’t paying attention. Compounding this was that it was night and that our car was black, making it harder to see even with its rear lights. That made it even more pertinent to be vigilant.

I know a person that often drove irresponsibly, although they have improved. They used to drive like a city driver all the time, meaning speeding and getting in other driver’s trunks. This often came with sudden braking which was always uncomfortable. Thankfully, besides their driving improving it also gave me a reason to drive carefully. Namely, I didn’t want other people to feel as unsafe and uncomfortable as a passenger as I sometimes felt. I would advise driving far enough away from people that you can see their rear bumper whenever it’s possible.