Safety Starts Young

Driver education is a pressing issue that needs to be taken more seriously. Being able to drive is a great asset that helps millions and millions of people all over the world get from place to place conveniently. With that said, it can also be very dangerous to many. Roughly 1.35 million people die each year globally due to driving accidents. Driver education needs to be taught and taken seriously to reduce deaths related to driving and make driving safer for all.

As mentioned previously, about 1.35 million people die from driving accidents and other instances. In the US, roughly 39,000 people were killed in driving-related accidents in 2020, according to NHSTA. This is the highest it has been since 2007. This is why driver education needs to be taught more proficiently. There are countless other statistics about driving-related accidents that only show how easy it is to get into an accident. Just think about how many recks and crashes you personally see every month in your own community. I personally know many people in my own community that have been affected by their insufficiency in their driver’s education and as a result have died. It may be that someone was on their phone, not using their seatbelt, or drinking and driving. There are countless other topics that drivers need to be aware of and the current system for driving is not sufficient.

Many public schools have classes for everything they deem essential, but hardly any of them have a dedicated class for driver education. There should be a real class taught at all of the high schools about driver education. It could even be an annual schoolwide event that will remind and teach all of the students so they are aware of the dangers of driving. Of course, each state would have to pass this as the state regulates public education. But, with enough support, it could happen and it could very possibly affect the deaths related to driving. By teaching kids at a young age about driving, they will be educated enough to know how to be safe on the road without learning the hard way or worse.

I have had a couple of experiences where I have seen my friends and family or others drive irresponsibly. There was a time when I was driving late at night with my friends and we were bored so we just went to drive on the back roads and talk to each other. It started out okay, as we were taking turns driving and we even started to teach one of our friends how to drive because he did not know. But one of my other friends got behind the wheel and we were going about 80 on a road that was curvy ahead of us. None of us knew that it was going to be curvy ahead when we got to that point, he tried to turn but drifted off into the other lane making a sharp right turn. I was sitting in the back left side and the whole backside of the car had drifted into the grass. We came very near to the trees but did not hit them. Luckily, the car was a front-wheel drive and the front wheels were the only wheels on the road. My friend got back on the road and took control of the wheel and we were fine after that. I would have been the first one to get hit if the trees were a little bit closer to the road. We were all okay and some of the guys puked on the side of the road. After that, we told each other that we’d never speed like that again because we very well could have been on the news because of it, and not in a good way. We now drive responsibly and are very careful on the road.

This happened because neither of us really knew the danger of speeding on the road at night. We were not educated enough and it might have cost us our lives. This is what we must combat: the ignorance that young adults and new drivers have. Most of the car accidents I have heard of usually involved a teenage person that was not responsible. As an adult, we must educate young drivers and make sure they are aware of the danger that driving can pose. We have to make sure they are always alert and ready, be aware of their surroundings, and stay under control when behind the wheel. There are so many topics that could be discussed and this essay barely scratches the surface, but it is a start. To help this cause, I try my best to encourage my friends and other people to drive safely, drive with my little brother to try and teach him to be safe, and am always trying to become a better driver.

We must stand together and help out the communities become safe places for driving. By encouraging others and staying aware, we can help the safety of driving become a priority in many lives because it might be the reason they end.