Drivers Ed: Necessity or Optional?

When getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, it is important to understand that driving is and always will be a privilege for those who value its meaning and do not represent a human right. For people who drive to the best of their abilities, they know that understanding driving laws, rules, and regulations keeps them and everyone else safe around them when operating cars or trucks. Drivers who lack the importance of driver education due to circumstances or neglect what they have learned jeopardize themselves and the other motorists around them, costing them life-altering injuries or even, in some cases, lives as payment. To prevent most cases of deaths from negligence, it is detrimental that drivers new and old maintain new information about driving laws because they vary from state to state and are constantly revised to keep up with drivers today. The importance of enrolling in driver education courses would relieve the number of casualties in recent years because new drivers would be provided with all the information they need to learn the rules of the road through informational books for book learners and hands-on experiences for action learners. Although driver’s education courses provide students with controlled situations from textbooks that don’t often depict the unpredictability of real-life situations on the road, the program would provide learners with the techniques along with the knowledge to prevent dilemmas on the road. Some lessons learned from the courses could be on how to deal with icy roads and harsh weather conditions by lowering their driver speed and turning on windshield wipers to avoid hitting other motorists. With the given lessons learned from a driver’s education program, most motorists should be able to follow the rules of the road to the letter in ideal cases, however, there are some things that an individual driver will need to do themselves to be considered a responsible driver that would prevent fatalities on the road.

The steps needed to be taken by all drivers to reduce fatalities are keeping a well-maintained vehicle, avoiding being under the influence of either drugs or alcohol when driving, and reporting unsafe drivers experiencing road rage. Maintaining a motor vehicle should be a driver’s top priority, which driver’s education emphasizes much on because when the functionality of a vehicle is compromised, then the likelihood of an accident increases dramatically. Even a broken tail light, especially at night, can cause an accident. Similarly, with the aid of driver’s education, drivers are prepared to combat car troubles while on the road, like getting a flat tire, forcing the individual to pull over safely for help. Another step to perform while reducing the mortality rate is to avoid taking drugs or drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel because even the slightest amount of either substance puts others on the road at risk, even when it’s been in the individual’s system for an extended duration. Additionally, the aftermath of taking those aforementioned substances will force police to charge the driver with a DUI and other impactful charges depending on the degree of impairment because having a blood alcohol concentration higher than a specific regulation results in a DUI. According to California’s DMV, a level higher than 0.08% for individuals above 21 years old is dangerous and teens under the age threshold cannot have 0.01% BAC, which indicates that even a sip of alcohol violates the regulation. The last recommended tip to prevent casualties when driving is to identify and avoid drivers experiencing road rage because they could disturb the flow of traffic by tailgating a victim to the point of causing forceful harm to them. By calling Highway Patrol on raging drivers, it would lower the chances of hurting others and prevent pile-ups on highways and car accidents.

My faintest memory of being in a car accident would have to be when I was about 10 years old and my parents and siblings were in the car because we were heading home from dining at a restaurant. The incident took place in the afternoon, and my mother was following traffic laws diligently and making the drive casual to the point that everyone in the car put their trust in her driving. We passed a four-way street and then suddenly out of nowhere, a forceful thud erupted from the back of the car that caused everyone in the car to vehemently jerk forward in their seat belts to the point the belt felt like choking us to protect everyone. In the following moments, I saw one of the rims of the car barreling down the road into the street, and the rear end of the car compressed like a crushed can of soda. Fortunately, everyone in the car did not suffer any injuries. However, everyone was a bit shaken up from the event, and looking at the car that hit our car was far worse in its condition than ours. The other party’s car had its front smashed to the point that they lost one of their headlights and were not injured like us. However, they were responsible for the accident because they were distracted and going slightly above the speed limit as a result. During the aftermath of the crash, insurance information was exchanged, and my parents were glad that their kids were safe. However, our car was totaled, leaving my parents to call our grandparents to pick up the group. In retrospect, my experience was an ideal one where no mortalities occurred and did not leave any form of trauma. However, it slightly instilled a worry about the notion that no matter how careful someone is when driving, external parties and factors can present car incidents. From my experience, I have learned ways that I want to incorporate into my driving style to prevent any injuries in the future.

Some steps that I have learned from watching other trusted drivers and reading DMV booklets are that being alert to the surrounding environment prevents harm, maintaining the speed for the flow of traffic on a highway, and taking adequate precautions when driving in adverse weather conditions. Being diligent when driving can decrease the likelihood of accidents because all it takes for an incident to occur is looking away for even a brief moment, and it is not guaranteed that other drivers would be doing the same. From this viewpoint, being alert can be life-saving because the driver can perform some defensive driving techniques and not be liable if a car crash occurs. Similarly, adhering to the flow of traffic when merging into it can reduce casualties because the present traffic sets the limit to maintain a reasonable distance from other cars and prevent backups, especially on a highway. The penalty of ignoring the flow of traffic on a highway is significant due to accessibility if an accident occurred because first responders will not be able to treat the injured right away since they would have to close a portion of the highway, which would take time to do. The best advice for preventing a problem with this aspect of driving would be to practice merging effectively into the flow of traffic on a smaller scale so the driver can gauge the distance between others for their vehicle and allow adequate time to do so. Lastly, assessing the driver’s skills in adverse weather conditions should be acknowledged because if they cannot maintain confidence in their driving in a variety of weather, then it would be best for them to avoid driving for that duration. In spontaneous cases, the driver should pull over to wait out the weather or check that their car is equipped with functional windshield wipers along with other essential features to traverse the changing environment.

With the ever-changing conditions of driving on the road society has in place, it is a necessity that driver’s education plays an important role in preventing some cases of fatalities in car accidents. As mentioned, bestowing driver’s education courses on new prospective drivers will give them the tools to survive the road and become responsible drivers, which would make the subject more accepted in society. Similarly, the importance of responsible driving involves all parties paying attention to the road because anything can happen to put others at risk, such as wild animals wandering on the road to road ragers looking for petty squabbles. Furthermore, driver’s education makes drivers proactive in recognizing the signs of a potential crash because they spend time learning the rules of the road and preserving their lives. Overall, a responsible driver is an individual that deserves the privilege to be on the road due to being a contributing factor in reducing the mortality rate from car crashes by enrolling in driver education courses.

Work Cited

“Section 9: Alcohol and Drugs.” California DMV, https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/california-driver-handbook/alcohol-and-drugs/. Accessed 24 July 2023.