Driver Education Initiative Scholarship

Students and citizens of all ages need to be taught driver’s education until they are old enough to understand what a car is until they have mastered the skill of driving on their own, but if a measure of this kind is never implemented then the number of car-accident related deaths will continue inflating. Driver’s education should be ingrained and taught to every citizen starting at a young age because the amount of deaths caused by driving has only increased dramatically over the last several decades; and that number will only grow if increased emphasis is not placed on the importance of strict implementation of driver’s education throughout the Department of Education’s curriculum. I personally want to take the initiative to advocate for driver education because I have been personally affected as a result of car accidents and witnessing others incompetence while driving. I want to help prevent unprecedented outcomes on the road, and allow people to continue to live and thrive, much like the gift the universe and/or luck had granted upon me when letting me survive those two car accidents (both of which I should have been severely injured). I believe the most efficient way of ensuring this is by applying more incorporation of driver’s education into early education and up until senior year of high school, and that is to ensure the mastery of the wheel and road before driving is an everyday need for those students.

The importance of driver’s education is to teach people the laws of the road, ensure driving skills are acquired, and to advocate for the reduction of distractions while driving. All of these qualities are established so that death can be avoided on the road, mainly as a result of car accidents, and so drivers can maintain awareness of their personal positioning and their nearby surroundings. Harsher penalties need to be implemented on driving offenses such as driving under the influence, reckless driving, endangerment of a child, and texting/playing on your phone in order for there to be a heavier consequence that outweighs such a miniscule crime. This is to further emphasize the importance of proper driving etiquette and dangers of not following street laws; and will be directly impactful to and understood by the offenders who will have to pay heftier fines and serve longer jail sentences. This would create an even farther stretch between the consequence of reckless driving and the reward that was hoped to be achieved.

I have both personally experienced two different car crashes and I have witnessed family members driving irresponsibly. I have personally been affected by poor driving skills and being the passenger in a vehicle while the driver was driving under the influence (both alcohol and illegal drugs). I have been in two separate car crashes while my father was driving, but he has been in over twenty total car-accidents over the span of his life, The first car crash was a result of my father’s negligence and drug-use, and the second crash was a result of someone else’s negligence and phone-use. I have also witnessed other family members driving under the influence of alcohol and endangering the lives of our other family members who happened to be passengers in the vehicles. I have seen the personal effects of driving being combined with distracting devices and substances, and I want to protect others who may not be as lucky as I am and/or help people who have been handicapped or injured as a result of a car-accident/driving-related incident.

I have yet obtained my driver’s permit or license so I still have every step to take in order to become a better driver. I would ensure that I am able to pass both my permit and driving tests with flying colors in order to be fully prepared to drive upon certification. I have already started attending meetings and project-events about driving prevention and safety, and that was through my school’s nomination of academic success in the junior class of 2024; the Project Prevent Leadership Conference of the 2022-2023 school year in Little Rock, Arkansas. I can do further advocating work for driver education through social media and my involvement with organizations with the same common goal in mind. This way I can broaden the importance of safety on the road to other people I interact with on the internet (both people close to me and people I do not even know at all). This is just a small step that I can take to advocate for topics such as these. I could also develop a small charity program to raise awareness for driving etiquette and safety, and all of the proceeds will be offered to students as payment for their driver’s license fee and driver’s license study books for low-income families and/or families in circumstantial financial situations.

Driver’s education should be ingrained and taught to every citizen starting at a young age because the amount of deaths caused by driving has only increased dramatically over the last several decades; and that number will only grow if increased emphasis is not placed on the importance of strict implementation of driver’s education throughout the Department of Education’s curriculums. As a survivor of two car crashes, an inexperienced driver, and someone who has been delayed from receiving my license as a result of a seizure, driver’s education is important because it prevents deaths and financial debacles as a result of car crashes. The most cost and time efficient way to implement improved driving education is to start teaching it to a younger demographic of students and raise penalties for breaking street laws. I want to take the initiative to advocate for positive change in the fields of street law and driver’s education because of the effects of incompetence driving that I was exposed to in the past.