Educated Drivers Can Save Lives

With the number of yearly vehicle deaths averaging numbers higher than your typical war, it’s no shocker to why driver’s education is such a necessity. More often than not, accidents on the road occur due to the lack of knowledge for a given situation presented while driving. This is proof of the importance of drivers education, as smarter drivers on the road could potentially save the lives of themselves and others.

The road to a safer driving population starts in the classroom. Learning and understanding traffic laws can go a long way to helping someone improve upon their driving safety. Students who take driver education classes have a thorough awareness of traffic regulations, signs, and signals. Drivers are more likely to steer clear of accidents and stay safe on the road if they are aware of the regulations of the road. Not only that, but drivers education also includes the introduction of safer driving techniques. The drivers ed course teaches students driving tactics such as defensive driving, how to stay focused while on the road, and maintaining a safe following distance. While giving drivers tactics to improve upon, drivers education also works to bring awareness to problems that can occur around the driver while on the streets.This involves educating students on the risks associated with distracted driving, speeding, and driving while intoxicated. Drivers are less likely to engage in these actions if they are aware of the risks involved. Above everything else, one of the most crucial skills that a driver can have is their decision-making abilities. This involves learning to evaluate various driving circumstances and make the best choices to ensure their own and other drivers’ safety. Ultimately, improving driver education is crucial to lowering the number of traffic-related deaths. Driver education aids in the reduction of traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities by giving students the information and abilities they need to drive safely.

While the importance of driver’s education is exceptional, action must be taken in order to genuinely reduce the amount of driving-related deaths. There are countless measures that can be taken in order to help bring this towering number down, many of which are possible in the near future. For starters, improvements to our road infrastructure could help to bring a safer driving environment to society. Governments can spend money on constructing safer roadways, easing traffic congestion, and putting in efficient traffic control equipment like roundabouts, traffic lights, and pedestrian crossings. The government, with the power they have, could help strengthen the enforcement of traffic laws. Although laws are already in place for our safety, they could entice law enforcement agencies to increase their efforts to enforce these laws, and possibly harshen the penalties for driving offenses. With the enforcement and law efforts being pushed, so too can a push for safe driving behavior be made. The dangers of speeding, driving while intoxicated, and distracted driving can all be raised through public awareness initiatives. High-risk groups like new drivers, motorcyclists, and commercial drivers can also be the focus of education efforts. Regardless of how the public is educated, tragedy is inevitable, which in terms of driving leads to accidents being bound to happen. First responders, police officers, and any service that provides aid to a crash site can be enhanced to help reduce the probability of death for victims. Coming back to the role of the government, they can enhance emergency response services, including ambulance and rescue services, to guarantee that accident victims receive timely and efficient medical care.

Accidents on the road, while we do our best to avoid them, are always a possibility the second you turn on that car. Unfortunately, I have been able to have first-hand experience with this type of hardship, and have had many friends experience this misfortune as well. I was on my way to school the morning of our first day back from winter break, and my dad was driving me to school. There were clear skies, which meant the sun would be clearly visible. The sunrise centered our neighborhood road that led to the high school, and the beaming light was practically blinding without the use of sunglasses and a car’s sun-visor. My dad was driving pretty fast because we thought we were in the neighborhood with no cars around. That’s when it happened. All of a sudden, a silver minivan practically spawns in front of us out of the sun’s glare and there wasn’t anything we could do. My dad hit the breaks as hard as he could but it was too late. We braced for impact and collided with the minivan in front of us. The car spun out off to the side of the road and my dad and I were jerked around the cabin of his truck. Luckily, my dad was able to come to a stop off the side of the road. Nobody was injured, and the only damage was done to the cars. My dad and I hopped out of the car, with me having to climb over on his side of the car to get out due to the smashed metal getting in the way of the passenger side door. We were both in utter shock of what had just happened, and we sat there until the cops arrived at the scene. For the rest of that day, I hardly said anything as I had my life flashed before my eyes just a few minutes before school. Even though I realized that it was just a mistake, and that my dad didn’t mean to hit a car, it took me a while before I could drive with my dad again, or in any car for that matter. I learned a valuable lesson that day. First of all, seatbelts really do save lives. Without the seatbelts and protective body of the truck, it’s very possible that I wouldn’t even be writing this essay right now, much less living. I also learned that regardless of the situation, even if you think there’s no one around you, it only takes once for disaster to strike.

While I can blame my dad for bad driving that day all I want, I’m not exactly the perfect driver myself. There are many improvements that I could make in order to become a better and safer driver on the roads. Many of my bad habits stem from watching my friends and family drive, and picking up habits from them. For example, usually when I come up to a stop sign, I do what is commonly known as a “rolling stop” and don’t always fully stop for the sign in front of me. This bad habit could definitely be improved upon, as I could do a better job at focusing on following all traffic laws, regardless of if I think I’m safe in a given situation. Secondly, like many of my friends, I tend to be distracted by my phone and music while on the road, which is leading me down a bad path of unsafe driving. To break this habit of constantly checking my phone and changing the music that’s playing, I could try to break the habit through exclusion of my phone. This would include possibly shutting off my phone and just listening to the radio, so that I stay distraction free and don’t have to worry about the right music playing.

While we are all far from perfect when it comes to driving, there are many precautions that we could take to ensure the safety of everyone on the road. These solutions all stem from the idea of having educated and knowledgeable drivers, and this idea could help win the war against death on the streets. Often we forget that learning is our best friend in terms of safety, and that if we could push everyone to educate themselves on the contents of driving, we could steer ourselves into a safer future.