Saving Lives through Proper Education

Education
is pivotal in bettering one’s life and most see it as the key to
success. So why is it that people do not take drivers ed
seriously? When a person is driving, they are in charge of not only
the safety of themselves, but also the safety of their passengers &
of the cars around them. Unlike statistics or biology, the knowledge
one learns from drivers ed is applied daily for the rest of their
life. If all students had to take courses from proper up-to-date
sources, the number of deaths as a result of driving could decrease
exponentially.

One of the
biggest steps that could be taken in order to reduce the number of
deaths related to driving would be to have a nationwide coursework
that is revised each year to be taught in schools. It is a dangerous
game to only require four hours of online learning & a year of
driving with someone 21+, at the bare minimum, with no accountability
for those teaching new drivers. Some of the people tasked with
teaching proper road safety have been on the road for 20 plus years
with no “check up” to ensure they are driving safely, let alone
teaching a new generation how to do so.

When
I was 8 years old, I was in the car with my mom, headed to a friend’s
house when a car with no lights on stopped just at the start of the
road. We drove into their car but thankfully no one was seriously
injured. I trust my family unquestionably, but as I rode in the car
with them after my drivers ed class, I began to realize the small
things that they were doing that could affect our safety. Thankfully
both my parents are skilled drivers and make sure we are safe on the
road.

A
step that I take that I learned from a friend who has been driving
for a few years is to put my phone on do not disturb in the glovebox
of the car. These 10 seconds of my life before each time I drive
ensures that I have my full attention on driving, leaving the road a
whole lot safer for it.