Driving Education and being aware of the risks

Driver Education is vital in reducing the number of accidents by all drivers. Youthful drivers, careless drivers, elderly drivers, and people who are just tired or maybe had a few drinks. Many accidents including deaths occur at the negligence of drivers not being properly trained on street etiquette and rules. Although, there are a great number of careless drivers on the road it should not be from lack of education.

Traffic check points and quality control stops are a good way to distract careless drivers from taking a seat behind the wheel. Other ways to prevent careless drivers is by making yearly road testing available. Online refresher courses are an easy and convenient option. Control of your anger will help greatly in situations of frustration as road rage can injury innocent people as well as yourself.

I have been in two car wrecks; one was in my childhood as a passenger in my mom’s car. This was back in the 70’s when they had those heavy steel-built cars and no seatbelt rules. One was when I was in my early twenties driving home from work. Driving home from work was the scariest accident I have experienced. I was trying to cross 2 lanes making a left turn into the inside lane of the opposite two lanes. The truck was traveling in the outside lane I was crossing and the car in the other inside lane was hidden behind the truck. When I pulled out in front I was struck at a high rate of speed. I blacked out as my car rolled directly into a locked gate of high pressurized containers. The only thing that stopped me from ramming into the bottles was a speed bump median used for parking purposes. Otherwise, the car would have barreled straight into the bottles and caused an explosion with me inside. The workers all rushed out to help me out of the car and was in awe that this turned out so well and I was able to walk away from what should have been a deadly car accident.

My negligence at the time was that I was going home early from work and not feeling well. Since I was not feeling well and, in a rush, to get home, I was not paying attention to my surroundings as I should have. The car was totaled, and I spent a week out of work due to my body being so sore from getting thrown about the vehicle. This vehicle was not like my mom’s sturdy-built vehicle, it was a tiny low to the ground Nissan pulsar, standard transmission.

To ensure safe driving, be sure to always be aware and alert while driving. Do not drive when you are impaired, please know the difference. Keep an eye on your driving as well as the driving of others around you. Look a few cars ahead of you as well as behind and on each side of the vehicle. Report anything that may look like it is hazardous. Whether it is something on the roadway or someone not following the road rules. Refresh yourself with the rules of the road and control road rage tendencies. All these things can contribute to a safe passage home.

We are a community that needs to learn to live together and get along especially on the roadways. If you do see anything that raises a red flag, such as drinking and driving or someone is too sleepy to drive there are always other options to get a ride home. Call a friend, an uber, cab or use public transportation. Nothing is worth the loss of your life or others around you.

In conclusion, driver education especially for youthful drivers just starting out can help to save the drivers life and the drivers on the roadway. Continued driver education knowledge through refresher courses and up to date articles and materials are helpful in reducing the risk of the roadways. Classroom education is just as important as roadway education. These programs for youthful drivers need to be made inexpensive and easily accessible to the new driver. Schools offering driver education will benefit from having responsible students driving on their campuses. Driver education is not just for the beginner but should be mandatory for the average driver every few years. Also, when accidents occur there should be additional driver education before maintaining a vehicle on the roadway again. Driver education is important to our community as it can help save lives. It is better to educate.