New Classes, More Education, Safer Driving

On October 31, 2020, my mother, my little sister, and I were involved in a car crash. We were stopped at a red light waiting for it to turn green when my mom noticed a car coming way too close to us way too fast, and before she even had time to react the car hit us going about 45 mph. Her car was totaled and barely a scratch was left on the one that hit us. Almost the entire back half of the car looked like a piece of aluminum that someone crumpled up and the entire back windshield was completely shattered. The car that hit us was a gigantic truck with a push bumper on the front of it, and my mom’s car was a Buick Enclave SUV, which was actually guaranteed to be a very safe car in case of a crash. So, the fact that her’s was totaled shows just how bad the crash could’ve been if we had been in a different car. I was 15 years old at the time and had plans to get my permit soon. However, after that experience, I waited almost an entire year to get it because I was so scared to drive. It took forever to build up the courage to even start to practice driving. Now, I have my license and am comfortable driving, but it took a while to work up to that. I believe that more education is necessary for everyone to stay as safe as possible while driving. I also believe that whenever a person turns 70 years old, they must get their license removed at some point that year and if they don’t, their license is temporarily suspended until they do. Research says that car accidents are most commonly caused by either teenagers or the elderly, which proves that more education is needed for both age groups. To implement these changes I think that a driver education program should be added to every high school in the country and every junior and senior at the school is required to take it both years, that way they will have continuous driving education until they graduate and turn 18. To further implement these changes, driving classes need to be created for elderly people as well to teach them about the new technology that comes with operating a car that is newly made. I’m sure that when most elderly people got their licenses, the types of cars being driven were a lot different from what they are now, which is why better education should be required for them as well. However, adding extra driving education to what we already have could possibly mean a raise in the price as well, which I believe is already a problem for some new drivers, is being able to pay for the classes. So, the idea of implementing a class in high schools for every junior and senior eliminates the worry of more payment. However, the elderly would still have to pay for their extra driving education. So, I think that a loaning system could be put into place for these elderly people who need more education on the newer forms of technology but can’t afford it. I think that these people should be able to apply for a loan and then possibly pay off the cost monthly until it’s fully paid. For me personally, money was always an issue for my driving classes, which was also why it took a while for me to get my license, which is what made me have the idea of putting a class into effect for all juniors and seniors that teaches them how to drive while they’re at school. So, even if someone doesn’t have enough money to pay for actual driving classes at that time, they will still get some form of driving education. Personally, I think that I need to work most on my patience when it comes to driving. For example, if someone does something like pull out in front of me, merge without using their signal, slam on their brakes, or go 10 or 20 miles under the speed limit I tend to get very impatient which is dangerous because it could lead to me doing something rash and potentially putting my life and that other person’s life in danger. Therefore, I need to work on my patience when it comes to driving, and I think a lot of other drivers could, or should, say the same thing.