How driving education needs to improve.

I have been working on writing this essay for almost a month and half now. I will write for a while and then delete it all. I have broken down in tears and stopped this more times that I would like to admit.

Driver education is extremely important to me and has impacted my life in a number of ways. As I come back to finish my degree at 33 years old, I have had a lot of life experiences that remind me why this is so important.

When I was 24 years old, I began a career with the Utah Highway Patrol. I spent 4 years witnessing first hand what happens when people are properly educated on how to drive, what the laws are, or they just simply don’t care. I used to get frustrated with our education system that we weren’t teaching the kids enough. Then, as I interacted more with the high school age kids, I realized how much the parents are not doing to teach them either. Then finally, I noticed how many people think they are invincible and that the rules do not apply to them.

Sadly, the last of that group is a major factor why there are so many deaths and terrible accidents. People are always on their cell phones, driving too fast, and having severe road rage. That area just comes down to us as a society taking responsibility for our actions and caring about their lives and those around them. I believe parents need to be better examples from a young age and show their children how they should drive.

When it comes to our education system and how we teach driving, I think we need to have more time on driving courses with instructors. Laws need to be taught better and if there was more interaction with law enforcement at the high school level I think it could help answer questions for young drivers on the laws and what they should do in an encounter with law enforcement. Every young driver comes out on the road with an idea of what laws are and how they should be enforced thanks to their parents, siblings and friends telling them how it is. It has always amazed me how many people believe that if they are going 5 miles per hour over then they cannot get a ticket. We have laws in place to write tickets for seat belt violations, using phones or other devices while driving. No matter what laws are in place, unless people are going to follow them and take responsibility there will be no change.

Unfortunately, the main blame for why our young drivers struggle as much as they do it parenting. If the parents are too busy playing on their phones, speeding everywhere and blaming things on others then how can we reasonably expect the children to do better. It is the same problem we have in every other area in our society. Parents do not want to be held responsible for their actions and as a result neither do their children. We need to step up! We need to show our youth how to drive, how to be responsible, and explain why we follow the laws.

The main reason why this essay was so difficult to write is due to an accident that greatly hurt our family. Just over 2 years ago, my wife of 11 years was killed in a vehicle accident. My wife was traveling through a canyon with our 4 year old daughter while she was going to work. She lost control of her vehicle after hitting a little ice on the edge of the road. The van struck the guard rail and then traveled across oncoming traffic and was T-boned by an F-350. My wife was killed on impact and my daughter was lucky enough to survive with a concussion, a few staples and a broken pinky. The driver of the F-350 did nothing wrong and his life was changed forever. He feels such guilt for an event that he had no control over and did nothing wrong.

I am a father of 4 amazing kids, 3 boys and 1 girl. I have remarried an amazing woman who happens to be a music therapist and works part time as a Chaplin. She has been amazing at helping our children through their grieving process. Our children are warriors and have come through this like champs.

I want to go back to college to finish my degree and show them we can do hard things. Life can know you down but what you do when that happens shows the character of a person.

I apologize for this essay. I know it wasn’t very well written and I feel like I was all over the place. I don’t anticipate being selected for this scholarship but I needed to apply and show myself I can do this. I am proud of my story and I am proud of how my family has fought. The main problem in being responsible adults for our actions!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my essay.