Beyond the Wheel: Navigating the Importance of Driver Education

Driving education is critical for anyone who wants to drive. Some rules have led to the safe and organized roads that we use every day. And if those rules are followed, the roads will be cleared of chaos. Accidents are the result of people not following the rules and being distracted. I have been distracted before, but thank God I had some fundamental lessons like, “when you take the wheel, you are responsible, and you can kill someone or put yourself in danger.” This can never be emphasized enough, and driving education plays an important role.

Driver education is the first entity that a new driver encounter. It ensures that the new driver knows the rules of the road. Driver education helps teenagers and new drivers learn how to protect themselves, their loved ones, and others while they are on the road. Driver education gives confidence to the new driver and can be trusted for defensive driving. It helps the new driver stay alert and provides all the information there is to know about driving safely. Driver education saves the driver from accidents or death first, before even saving the lives of others on the road. And this leads to fewer accidents and more safety for everyone. Given all the accidents that still happen on the road, the extra step that can be taken by driver education is to emphasize even more the importance of the responsibility of the driver by focusing on the benefit that it brings to themselves and, more importantly, their family. I think touching on family safety will resonate with many people because everybody wants their family safe, and addressing that matter is a good start.

Some people learn by experience or through other people’s experiences, so it will also have a great impact to invite people who have been in an accident, whether by their fault or not, and people who lost their loved ones in a car accident, who are willing to share it. Young people will relate to people like them, so someone their age will have a better impact. Through these testimonies, the teacher in charge of driver education will encourage them to choose a defensive driving style and be safe on the road, all in a fun way.

Driver education classes should be fun in a way that people will care about interacting with the learning material. Many people want to have their driver’s license for different reasons; they want it quickly and easily, and many don’t pay attention to details. When I was passing my test, I was only 50% interested in the importance of these rules because it was boring, but my dad always told me, “When you take the wheel, it is your responsibility, and you can kill someone or put yourself in danger.” A way that I would have been more interested was if it was fun. Of course, driving must be taken very seriously, but for children who are starting to learn their ABCs, it is better to put it in a song. The same applies to a new driver. Putting the top fundamentals in acronyms or memes so they will be remembered without effort is something to be tested.

I remember that my soccer coach while I was in high school was trying to teach us how to dribble, and since he knew that we were beginners, he made a fun sound each time he was doing something different, and as we memorized the sound, we also memorized the dribble. It was so fun that even after high school, I still remember it. This is an efficient way to teach because it will stay with us even when we can be distracted or reckless. One thing that I think every driver should know is that they can trust their intuition. Nobody wants to be in an accident, so encouraging drivers and feeding their confidence by bringing awareness to their intuition is important. Intuition has been something that I have to pay attention to, and I can tell how many times I have been saved from accidents. It helps when nobody can pronounce a word.

As a defensive driver, if you are looking in your rearview mirror and see a person at full speed behind you as you try to move into their lane and you trust the intuition that is telling you not to move in yet, you will be safe. This happened to me as this person was coming from behind at high speed, and I was ready to move in. In my mind, I was thinking that he would let me move into the lane because the light was on red, but something said wait, so I waited, and he passed me with that same speed just a few seconds after the light turned green. I was thinking that as the light was red, he would stop, but I was shocked that it was not the case. I could have been in an accident that day, but intuition helped me. I have certainly seen and been in the car with someone driving irresponsibly, but as I found out the reason (lack of sleep), we found a way to meet that need so it would not cost a life. As I have been on the road, I have learned the importance of being safe. I have been putting on music alone and not touching my phone while driving, and learning to be focused overall because it is not only the phone that distracts a driver. When I drive, I think of my family, others, and the consequences of being in a car accident, and this helps me to drive safely.