My Road to Defensive Driving

In the summer of 2021, I had the opportunity to participate in a one-day defensive driving course hosted by the highway patrol in my state. I received the invite from a good friend to take part in this class and accepted because I thought the aspects of the class sounded fun. What I didn’t know at the time was that it would end up being a great decision, one that completely changed my outlook on safe driving and driver education. 

I received my driver’s license in the summer of 2020, which meant that all the driver education classes that I received through my high school were online. The only part of my driver education that was in-person were the few, short “ranges and roads” practices held at the school and with our teachers. At the time (especially due to the online nature of my classes), I didn’t really pay as much attention as I should have and didn’t realize the true importance of education as a driver. I did the minimum that was needed to earn my driver’s license because, as many other teenagers at that age are, I was mostly just worried about getting my license to have more independence, spend more time with my friends, and go on dates. I incorrectly assumed that “not being an idiot” on the road and using common sense was enough to keep me safe. 

During the course hosted by the highway patrol, I learned many things that my driver education class in high school simply wasn’t able to teach. The morning part was mostly dedicated to a large range course and a few practices with obstacles on an outside track. The biggest thing that I learned from the first section was how to better maneuver a vehicle in smaller situations. During the lunch break, we watched a few videos and talked about the very real risks of driving and the importance of education on the road, especially for teenagers. The afternoon was the most impactful to me as we practiced how to maneuver vehicles at high speeds which included swerving and practices aimed at teaching us how to best maneuver our vehicles in emergency or last-minute situations. During one of the practices, we drove in a straight line (to simulate driving on a freeway or highway) at a high speed toward a line of cones. At the seemingly last moment, the instructor would say right or left and we would have to swerve around the cones in that direction. We practiced how to keep the vehicles under control and how to avoid emergency situations that may happen around us. This taught me so much about how to drive defensively because I never had known the best way to react and what to do with a vehicle in emergency situations. We were able to test the limits of our vehicles and see what a car can and cannot do.

This course was just a short 8 hours long, but it made a big impact on the way that I acted on the road from that time forth. I drove away from this defensive driving course feeling so much more confident behind the wheel (a confidence that I didn’t even realize I was lacking) and truly understanding the risks of driving and the need to drive defensively. I felt that I had learned skills that were capable of saving my life and the lives of others. Because of this course, I know how important driver education really is in reducing the number of deaths on the road. Many times as teenagers learning how to drive, we are taught the basics from our parents and our classes in high school, but what we miss out on is learning the limits of our vehicles and training what we should and are able to do in emergency situations with fast reactions. Many teenagers, as well, do not realize the true risk that driving has and care more about getting their license for the reasons that I did than actually knowing how to drive safely. In essence, what many new drivers lack is an education in defensive driving. Because of that, one of the most important steps that can be taken in order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is teaching, and more importantly, practicing defensive driving as a part of driver education classes. As we know, we cannot control what other people do on the road, but what we can control is what we do and how we react. In driver education classes, we learn about defensive driving, but what we lack is truly knowing exactly what to do, how to maneuver a vehicle, and what the limits of a vehicle are while reacting to emergency situations. We lack practice. It would make such a difference if we integrated the practice of defensive driving and education on the risks of driving more fully into our driver education courses. I saw the huge difference that it made for me when I learned how to drive defensively and how I could best react in emergency situations. I know that this knowledge and skill can also help drivers all across the country to maintain safety on the road.

After taking this course, I started to notice many more people who I was with that were driving irresponsibly. The majority of these instances were with my friends, who had also gotten their licenses recently. I realized that this was happening largely due to the fact that they didn’t really know the very real risks that driving irresponsibly has. Two of the biggest things that we can all do better is realize and understand the risks of driving, and learn and practice how to drive defensively. Almost always, we start driving irresponsibly when we don’t realize or understand the very real dangers that driving has. Driving, in turn, becomes even more dangerous when we don’t know how to react to the actions that others take on the road. To implement these two crucial things, we must start with education about them. If we can improve the way that defensive driving is taught and practiced, we will have the capability of being safer on the road and we will see a decrease in the quantity of deaths as a result of driving.