I was never able to receive Drivers ed.

I
was never lucky enough to receive the formal drivers ed when I
was in high school.

Coming
from a foreign country and studying in high school, I was bounded by
a contract and was prohibited to drive or receive drivers ed
until I graduate high school. I was jealous as I scroll through my
friends’ social media posts saying they passed the exam for their
driver’s license on their sweet sixteenth. After I entered college,
I practiced driving with an experienced driver who was a graduate
student and got my driver’s license then.

However,
my regret for not receiving Drivers ed was real because it’s
a way to help you form good driving habits. As Charles Duhigg has
described in The
Power of Habits,
a habit is merely a three-step loop: a cue, a routine, and a reward.
To the deepest degree, the habit should ingrain into your brain,
leaving you no room to think before your action. The downside of that
is, the habit you form may be a habit that’s not beneficial.
Similarly, accidents happen when people don’t have habits formed on
the road. The speedometer is basically a timer and the faster you can
react in situations, the smaller the chance you end up in an
accident. The idea is vague enough yet it’s the starting point to
gradually alter possible tragedy on the road. From my personal
experience, my mother was driving in the state of Wyoming during my
graduation trip. As a driver who is unfamiliar with the United
States’ traffic rules, she tried her best to learn the traffic
rules in the United States, but she still unconsciously neglected one
of the STOP signs at a crossroads. A truck coming fast from our right
didn’t plan to stop. Without thinking for a second, she floored the
gas. Our car jetted forward instantly, avoiding a crash with the
truck from the right side. With little knowledge of driving, my first
reaction would be pounding on the brake because I wouldn’t have the
mind to take in speed and distance as factors. If she was to step
hard on the brake, we don’t know what will happen. In other words,
my mother saw the cue of a car approaching, estimated the distance,
and performed the correct routine in this specific circumstance.

Driver
Education will help the younger driver form the habits when they see
the STOP sign, when they fail to notice the stop sign, and when in
many other situations. For my mom, her habits formed after years of
experience on different kinds of roads; for the younger driver, the
right habits form from lectures, observations, and practices in a
safe environment before hitting the road. It is everyone’s
responsibility to have good habits on the road to reduce the number
of accidents and death, and drivers ed would be the beginning
point. Now, when I drive everyday, I still see it as my practice and
a way to give myself drivers ed.