The Importance of drivers Education

Like every other 16-year-old, I was so excited to go to the DMV and get my license the day after becoming old enough to drive. As the youngest in my family, I witnessed how special it was for my brother and sister to become licensed and get their own cars and I wanted nothing more than to experience that for myself. I spent months preparing and going over the information from my permit and studying countless driver’s ed manuals in preparation for my exam. Although it is not like this everywhere, where I am from it is required that you take a full driver’s ed course, and drive 12 hours with an instructor before you are allowed to get your license. Like most teens who did not want to take driver’s ed, I felt as if I did not need it because I watch and observe people drive every day. It took going to driver’s ed for me to understand how dangerous of a mindset that was to have. I learned so many things that I would have never even thought about driving safely, accidents, and the importance of not being distracted while you are behind the wheel. Driver’s ed taught me more than just driving, it taught me to never assume I know everything I need to know and that it is okay to go and learn more.

It is important for everyone who is driving to have taken driver’s ed because there are so many important things about driving safely that you can’t and won’t learn on your own until it is too late. The fact that the same amount of people can die in a year from driving as in the Vietnam War should be a key indicator that driving is something that should not be taken lightly. There are some situations such as hydroplaning or rolling down a hill in which finding a solution at the moment would not only be difficult but also dangerous. In those instances, driver’s ed is important to reducing deaths because people with proper education know how to get themselves out of those situations without causing more harm to themselves, their cars, or other people. If people went to driver’s ed, learned the basics, and practiced the things that they learned there would be a significant decrease in the number of deaths seen in relation to motor vehicle accidents.

I have been in a few motor vehicle accidents in my lifetime but never with me behind the wheel. One Saturday after my mom picked me up from basketball practice we stopped to get food like always and continued our trip home. Little did I know, this trip would be so different than the others that we take every week. At the end of our 25-minute journey as my mom was merging off of the highway a car sped up and rear-ended her. Although this was not my first time experiencing a car accident, this was my first time in an accident bad enough for the airbags to go off. My hand was so close to the dashboard that when the airbags deployed they popped directly on my hand and made me lose feeling in my fingers for hours. Shortly after, we realized that the lady who rear ended us was typing an email as she was driving. In this case, I did not necessarily witness a loved one practice unsafe driving but I did see what effects distracted driving can have on other people as I and my mom were put in a situation that could have ended way worse.

I feel as if there are steps every single person with a license can take to be a safer driver. For starters, I think too many people have gotten so used to driving with multiple distractions. For example, people text, eat, do makeup, and entertain people all while also driving. It is not rare to be driving and look over at the person next to you just to see that the reason their driving seemed off was that they were not giving their full attention to driving. There is so much more however to safe driving than just avoiding distractions. A lot of people get “comfortable” behind the steering wheel and begin to stop following all of the rules of the road. People go over the speed limit, run stop signs, and stop using turn signals. Although all of these things may seem minimal, traffic accidents happen in the blink of an eye and all of these are things that can lead to an accident. Another step that can be taken towards being a safe driver is keeping up with the maintenance of your vehicle. Although cars are not living things they still need to be taken care of. The better you treat your car the better it will treat you in return. This goes back to getting oil changes, tire rotations, and tune-ups. Lastly, a lot of people overlook the fact that mental health plays a big role in the ability to drive well. It is important to always be well-rested and avoid driving in states of fatigue.