DMV Essay

In America, people are able to work towards getting their driver’s license at the age of 15. Of course, before you can even get your learners permit, you have to take a drivers class, where you will cover everything from street signs to car maintenance requirements. Upon completion, you’ll go to the DMV to take your learners permit test. This is an online test covering a range of questions you would have covered, such as how to handle pedestrian crossings, stop signs, and how to motion which way you are going if your blinkers are not working. Test takers are allowed up to 8 mistakes before they fail the test and have to try again at a later date. If you fail 3 times in a row, you are required to retake your drivers course. Once you have your learners permit, there are three classes as minors you can take where driver instructors teach you how to drive behind the wheel. In 6 months, you will take your drivers test, where you are allowed up to 15 minor mistakes. If you pass your test, you can have a driver’s license as early as 16 years old.

As you can see, the DMV works very hard to make sure that teenagers know what they are doing before taking to the roads on their own. Unfortunately, a lot of people tend to wait until they are 18, where they no longer have to take the class, and can try for the test as many times as they need to. While I am certainly not saying that these people are worse drivers than the people who took all of the classes beforehand, they tend to be less informed of all of the different laws of driving or any of the tips they could have gotten prior to getting into the car. When taking those classes behind the wheel, your instructor teaches you the best ways to drive efficiently. They teach you how to park and turn, and where all of your blindspots are so that when you drive on your own, you know how to look for them to keep you and the people around you safe. Someone who didn’t take the time to learn those things can end up making mistakes and injuring themselves and others. The classes are there for a reason, so it’s a good idea to take advantage of them and prepare yourself in the best ways possible.

Now, something that needs to be understood is that a lot of people play it safe on driving tests, and don’t actually drive that way on a daily basis. People are in too much of a rush to take a few extra seconds to check around them for other people. Between speeding and dodging in between cars to get just one car ahead, the road can be a chaotic place. Personally speaking, I’ve been in the car with quite a few people whose driving skills I had to bring into question. My dad in particular loves speed. It is not uncommon for him to go over the speed limit. In his defense, he has very fast reaction times and is always paying attention, so he’s never gotten into a car accident. On the other hand, I almost feel as if he doesn’t take into account how his actions affect the other drivers. You can’t predict what someone else does, but everyone has their own reactions to things, and you don’t want to be the reason someone freaks out on the road and gets hurt.

My sister also has a love for speed, which I believe she got from my dad. The only problem is that my sister does not have as good of a reaction time as my dad does. She also has some brain damage from an incident in her past that causes her to often not see things that are normally obvious to others. This has caused her to get into many accidents even though she hasn’t been driving long. She can be a great driver when she wants to be, but she can certainly be reckless too. Now, that is not to say she hasn’t learned from her mistakes. Her recklessness consted her two cars, and got her sent to the hospital at one point, so she’d learned the hard way to be more careful. It would have been better if she acknowledged the dangers of the road from the very start and always stayed on the side of caution, but you can’t change the past.

It is important to keep others in mind when you are driving. Not everyone shares the same mindset as you, so it is better to always be aware of what those around you are doing. Just because one person does something, doesn’t mean you have to do it too (unless it’s the law of course). Your friends may think it’s cool to go 50 in a 35, but it would be very reckless and unsafe to do so. Keeping you and the people around you safe is more important than showing off for a few minutes, and please, never drive under the influence. If you think it’s hard to always stay on top of things normally, imagine how hard it would be to do so when you can’t see straight. Stay safe out there and remember that the rules are there for a reason.