Driver Education Initiative – The Steps To Improve Safe Driving

Jayson Brewer

Saint
Vincent College.

In The Driver’s Seat
Scholarship

Driver’s
education is very important in today’s need for driving. Most
drivers now are very unsafe while driving. Younger/ or newer drivers
are now on their phone’s while driving at a higher percentage than
ever has been. A lot of car accidents are caused by driving while
impaired by drugs or medication, but the higher percentage is texting
while driving. The number of fatalities in U.S. highway deaths in
2005 was its highest at around 45,000. In 2012 it decreased to around
35,000. This was due to younger drivers staying off their phones and
drivers ed. I myself took drivers ed. I passed my
road test first try due to drivers ed. Drivers ed breaks a lot
of bad habits parents teach us while driving. Parents themselves text
and drive or are on their phone while driving. Some steps that can
lead to lowering the total deaths in driving are some very simple
steps that everyone can make. There are many steps that can fix a lot
of issues we have in driving and solve many car accidents.

The numbers were at their
highest in 2005 with highway deaths being around 40,000 which is
higher than deaths that American had in American Revolutionary war,
Korean war, War of 1812, our current war with Afghanistan, and the
war with Mexico back in 1846. These numbers are ridiculously high.
They show that as a country we have very unsafe habits that we
develop either from learning from family members, or even just from
over time of thinking that we are safe drivers when in fact the
statistics show we are not. We have a sense that if we have not been
in a car accident or do not cause them, we are still safe drivers
when that is not how it works. People need to keep in their heads
that they are basically driving a mobile missile. They need to be
safe when driving or they can take someone else’s life or even
their own.

Drivers ed is one
small step you can take to lower the number of deaths that car
accidents lead to. Drivers ed breaks down the rules of the road and
attempt to fix all bad habits drivers have. People just look at
drivers ed as a way to either get their driver’s license
early, or even as a way to just pass their road test. These are
negligent way’s of looking at drivers ed. Driver’s
education’s purpose is a way to teach you safe driving to protect
your own life and others. Drivers ed is to teach good habits
and safe driving. Without drivers ed the younger generation would
have way more fatal accidents. Drivers ed teaches not just younger
generations either. It helps older people to try and review things
that they forgotten due to their bad habits. Most adults think of
drivers ed as something that they would not learn anything from
because everyone once they get their driver’s license thinks that
they are perfect driver’s.

To become a better and safer
driver there are many steps that everyone can take to make sure that
their life and others are safe. First step would be to buckle up.
Buckling up would save your life in one way or another. Buckling up
can stop you from smashing your head into the dashboard of the car.
It can also stop you from flying through the front windshield of the
car in case of a head-on collision. Not being buckled up now can even
result into a ticket, as state troopers monitor drivers for seatbelt
wear in the “Click it or Ticket” campaign. This is not meant to
punish people as many other thinks it is. Its meant to keep you safe.
I see many people on the road not even wearing a seatbelt back home
in Long Island because people think that just because they are going
to a place maybe 10 mins from home that they will not need to wear a
seatbelt.

The second step would be to
check the vehicle’s surroundings. It is always important to check
your surrounding no matter where you are. You always want to check
the left and right of you for every turn you are making. People think
that just because they look left to right once that they are safe
when they do not see anyone coming. Most of the time people only look
one way. This is due to people becoming lazy when driving and
thinking that they have the right of way in most cases. A lot of
people forget the rules of right of way and cause some small crashes.
The biggest spot this happens at is at four way stop signs. A lot of
people just think that they have the right of way. The right of way
is for whoever got there first, then second…ect. Most people with
however they think will believe that they have the right of way when
in regard to the rule of the road, in most cases turns out that they
don’t have the right of way in a majority of car accidents.

The third step would be to
make sure if you have younger kids that they are buckled into their
booster seats and to not let them wonder around unbuckled in the car.
A lot of younger kids who die in car crashes usually are killed due
to them not being either buckled in the right way or them not being
buckled up at all in their booster seats. With them not being buckled
up they have a high risk flying around the car or even go out of a
window. A lot of younger parents tend to think that their child is
safe with them in the car. If your younger child is not in their
booster seat they have a high risk of fatal injuries in car
accidents.

The fourth step would be to
not go over the speed limit. Is it really safe to go over the speed
limit? Well, I guess in some cases it is. Going maybe like five miles
per hour over the speed limit is not too much of a big deal but going
over that is. People have to remember that they are driving a mobile
rocket. A modern-day cars maximum speed is roughly about 140 without
any modifications. People who speed sometimes forget that it takes a
lot more distance to slow down while braking when speeding. The
faster you go, the more room you need to slow down safely while
braking. This tends to cause a lot of “fender benders”, as we
call them. Speeding is the second largest cause of fender benders the
second is texting while driving.

The fifth step toward safety
is making sure everything in your car is functioning right. While
you’re driving, if something feels funny, bring it to a mechanic or
dealership. If your car is not functioning normally, then it is going
to need some repairs. Now I understand its pretty costly to fix a
car. I am a mechanic after all. It is not cheap to fix any car even
for minor maintenance. Just think of your brakes for example. Say
that you have not changed your brakes in a year. You are at a higher
risk of a car accident due to the fact that it is going to take
longer for your brake pads to grab the rotor and slow down the wheel
due to constant wear and tear on the brake pads and the rotor. Even
having a brake light out can be a big thing. Having a brake light out
can cause a fender bender which can be small or even fatal. The
person behind you might not even notice when you brake due to the
light not initiating when you press the brake pedal so they might not
even brake.

The sixth step is to avoid
phone usage while driving. Possibly the biggest cause of fatalities
while driving is cell phones. A lot of people either call or even
text while driving. Bluetooth solves a big issue for calling while
driving. It tends to take your eyes off the road less than texting
now. Texting and driving is the worse out of the two. Texting
requires your eyes on your phone and then you are not looking at the
road. You have a higher chance to do a lot of more illegal things
when texting and driving, like blowing through a stop sign or a red
light. These lead to even getting pulled over by a cop or the traffic
light taking a picture of your license plate and you getting a ticket
though the mail. Texting and driving have led to electronic signs
posted everywhere saying to “Do not text and drive and save a
life.” Researchers have even stated that texting and driving is six
times more likely to lead to a car accident than drinking and
driving. Needless to say, texting and driving is possibly the worse
thing to do while driving and that people need to realize that the
road is not safe until everyone stops doing it.

As I stated earlier I myself
have lost a close friend/brother due to a car accident. He was an
all-county wrestler in my high school and played on the best high
school football team my high school had in 2008. His name was
slandered due to him having Adderall in the car at the accident, but
he did not cause the accident. He was not high he; used it to help
him control his ADHD. He did not cause the accident. When in fact the
other driver who was around his age was texting and driving when she
hit him head on causing them both to die. His body went flying
through the car windshield and he instantly broke around 20-60 bones
in his entire body. He did not die right away but he was unconscious.
He was flown to Stony Brook hospital, where he was operated on to
figure out the extent of his injuries. They were trying to figure out
what was causing him to lose a lot of blood. He had slow internal
bleeding, which lead to his death. I found out that Saturday,
December 5^th-,
2015, one of the worst days of my life. My best friend/brother
basically who was on his way to come pick me up to hangout as a
surprise had died from a car accident that he did not even cause.
Worse yet, his name was slandered. I was heartbroken and took me
several months to recover and not blame myself for his death. I just
remember causing self-harm to myself and not talking to anyone, still
going to school not telling anyone but just crying in class. I did
not start talking to anyone until my football coach pulled me to the
side because I was not acting right for the last few months, and then
I finally told someone the whole story and how it affected me.

As
a country that tries to fix other countries issues, we need to start
on fixing our own. Safe driving need’s to be the first thing we
fix. Safe driving will help save many people’s lives. We need to
realize we have a major problem going on in out country. Many people
are taking driving as a simple thing were you do not have to worry
about anymore. When in fact we are losing a lot of people every year
from car accidents. Everyone needs to start taking steps to improve
their driving to help save lives. Drivers ed could be the
first step. Or even just making sure you do the basic steps that many
people do not do anymore. Like checking both sides before turning can
even make a big difference. Basically people just need to make steps
or even take action at trying to improve safe driving so people do
not have to go thought the issues of losing love ones because of
other people or even there own actions.

Me.