Drive Safe or Don’t Drive at All!

Driver education is necessary for road safety because it teaches drivers to operate their vehicles and anticipate hazards. Drivers who know how to operate their vehicles can understand and predict the outcomes of behind-the-wheel actions. An understanding of how their decisions affect their cars and those around them allows these informed drivers to make deliberate decisions even in hazardous situations. Informed drivers can make the best decision for themselves and other drivers. They can also handle emergencies without becoming frantic, possibly making rash or dangerous choices. Driver education is the most reliable way of teaching this level of awareness to new generations of drivers, and so can ensure that new drivers can be confident and safe behind the wheel. Perhaps even more important than being informed is the intuition educated drivers have for their cars. Intuition means that good choices are reflexive, the car becoming an extension of the driver. In driver education, students have a chance to learn from specialists and even to learn one-on-one on the road. This opportunity creates a safe environment for students to build up their intuition and, as part of that process, to make mistakes with the assurance that their instructors can correct them. Driver education gives drivers the knowledge and intuition they need to be confident and safe while on the road.

One way to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is to more strongly and broadly discourage drug use. Impaired drivers are a major cause of driving accidents. They tend to speed, not wear seat belts, and to have slower reaction times. Because they cause accidents, these drivers are a threat to their own and others’ lives. Building in more open discussion about the negative effects of drug use, and reminding drivers of all ages that their decision making and driving abilities are severely impaired when on drugs, would help keep people aware of the dangers of drug use. Maintaining this awareness throughout society would cause people to reconsider before drinking or taking drugs, and especially before doing so and then driving.

Another way to decrease the number of driving-related deaths is to create safer and more convenient public transportation. Public transportation has the potential to be a main means of transit for residents of a city, but too often it is poorly managed or even unsafe. Safer public transportation would make more citizens feel comfortable leaving their cars at home and taking the bus to work, decreasing the number of cars on the road and at the same time putting those citizens in larger, safer vehicles. Public transportation can also be highly inconvenient for citizens, taking long times between stops or not passing by high-demand areas. Improving the convenience of public transportation would make it a more viable option for people’s transit.

One night in high school, I went to a late-night event to watch a friend’s jazz performance. I was blown away by my friend’s skill on saxophone – he outshined the other players tremendously. As I was about to find out, however, those nimble saxophone fingers were clumsier than coconuts when it came to driving. He had kindly offered to drive me home that night. To our surprise, it had begun raining by the time we exited the theater. Neither of us thought much of it. Grateful for his kindness, I got in the passenger seat and he in the driver’s seat. As we left the parking lot, my friend began turning the volume of the music up to nearly uncomfortable volumes. I didn’t want to say anything at first. But as it got louder, I started hearing a screeching in the music. I reached over to turn down the music – and I could still hear the screeching! It was the screeching of tires on pavement! My friend suddenly realized he had been driving incredibly fast and eased up on the accelerator. That was a very scary moment for me, causing me to want to learn how to drive on my own.

I can do my part in making the roads safer by taking my car in for service regularly and by urging friends to do the same. I can also remind people of the dangers that are associated with driving these heavy metal vehicles at high speeds as well as taking steps to remind myself before getting behind a wheel that safety is not something to be taken for granted on the road. I can spread awareness of the dangers of keeping one’s phone accessible while driving. Especially when I am in the car with someone, I offer to handle their phone for them so they can keep their eyes and focus on the road. This serves as a helpful and friendly reminder of how distracting phones can be and how important it is for people to be aware of their surroundings while driving.