Applied Knowledge is Power

Most people in our society believe that knowledge is Power, AND they could not be more WRONG! APPLIED knowledge is Power, and it is not enough to know something. We must act and apply what we know. I say we must use the knowledge of safe driver education to decrease the number of deaths from driving. Safe driver education is essential to reducing the deaths of drivers because it shows society what they do not know. The average American can go weeks to months without seeing a car accident. Let us say that a particular driver tends to merge without using a turn signal. Let’s also say that they have been doing it for months with no adverse effects on themselves. Not learning or experiencing negative feedback from a behavior subconsciously teaches us that it’s okay to do. In this case, it is merging without using a signal. To save the driver and other people, safe driver education must be put out into the world to teach that just because you have not had a negative response to unsafe behavior does not mean that it can not cause harm in the far or near future. Just using that safe driver education on turn signals and merging can decrease the number of deaths caused by driving.

I believe there may be two simple steps to help reduce the deaths related to driving. The first step is to make it known worldwide; the second is annually required education. When it comes to reducing the number of deaths related to driving, the government should spare no expense on complete nationwide advertisement. The number of deaths related to driving should be on billboards, TV commercials, social media posts, news channels, flyers, and more. Hopefully, it will bring more attention to the average American. If they constantly see the effects of unsafe driving, at some point, most people will stop and think about how their choices can determine the future. The second step is to mandate annual education on safe driver education to be completed by those who have driver’s licenses. These would be steps to aid in reducing deaths related to unsafe driving.

Unfortunately, I lost a close friend of mine from unsafe driving. In high school, teenagers feel they could never be hurt and are on top of the world. It seems silly, but we have all been there to that feeling of being on top of the world, and that feeling leads to bad decisions sometimes. If my friend had only been introduced to safe driver education, would it have saved his life? My friend was speeding after a basketball game, hit a tree, and passed on. For a while, it hurt knowing that he would not be there anymore. From his accident, it taught us to be safe and not to underestimate the dangers of unsafe driving. We got to experience what irresponsible driving could do to us, our families, and people worldwide.

The First step I would take to become a better driver is acknowledging my unsafe tendencies, and the second step would be to make sure that each time I sit in the driver’s seat, I am hyper-focused on being safe for myself and others. The last step I would take is to remember the effects of unsafe driving on my life. Then, I would share what I learned, why, and what it has done for me since I discovered it. In this world, applied knowledge is Power, but the only way we can continue to apply knowledge is to share knowledge so that it can grow and evolve.

Throughout this life, I gained knowledge through experiences, and those same experiences become memories. All we are and will ever be in life are memories, so do yourself a favor and be a great one to yourself and the people around you. I have taken that quote and lived my life by it, and I want to know what this world can become if we all decide to do the same regarding safe driving education. I ponder what we could do about the death rate that is related to car accidents and how we could decrease the number just by realizing how safe driver education can change the lives of many. To me, it’s a big deal because I lost a friend that I will never see again, and I do not want others in the world to experience what I do, so I want to do my best, even after this essay, to implement safe driver education in my life and to my families lives. Who knows, I can be the beginning of a monument domino effect that transcends driving to the next level.