Safer Driving, Safer Planet

Without education, we are nothing. We are unable to grow, learn from our mistakes, prevent further mistakes, and survive on an ever-changing planet. In order to progress, we need to learn. The same applies to driving. If we never educate ourselves in the rules of the road, we will be unable to get better and safer as drivers. Driver education allows new drivers to learn rules and practices of driving a dangerous vehicle, which helps to prevent uneducated mistakes leading to driving-related deaths.

Picture a toddler, just barely old enough to walk, waddling over to a power outlet. Now, because the child doesn’t know the dangers electricity can provide, they are likely to follow the toddler-urge to stick their finger in the outlet. This child obviously didn’t choose to act this way because they knew the consequence and didn’t care, they simply just didn’t know. Using this example, we can understand how driver education is an important step to help prevent driving-related deaths, because it teaches those who simply didn’t know the rules and regulations beforehand. Some drivers may not know that you’re supposed to leave up to four seconds of distance between your vehicle and a motorcycle, or that distracted driving causes more injuries than drunk driving, although drunk driving causes more deaths. Without this knowledge they are more prone to making ignorant mistakes that can have devastating consequences.

When it comes to distracted driving, my older sister was a particularly bad example. She valued her interaction with friends highly, which is arguably a good trait, but when coupled with driving, it can be incredibly unsafe. She would often use Snapchat to send pictures to her friends while driving her car, as well as text those she wanted to chat with. This habit made riding with her pretty anxiety-inducing. A step we took as a family to prevent this from further occurrence was to sit down with her and talk about the dangerous effects of distracted driving. We made her promise to stop being on her phone and took part in making sure she stayed true to her word by speaking up when we she would look at her phone. We made every other member of our family promise not to text and drive as well, which both makes a safer impact on the roads, and makes my sister feel supported in her change of habits. We now hold each other accountable and are not afraid to bring up concerns if we feel like the driver is distracted.

An important lesson I learned from this experience was that talking through and learning the consequences of unsafe driving can help change the actions of our drivers. I also learned that it is important to put safety first, and to not be afraid of speaking up if you feel like your safety is being challenged.

If education and accountability can make that much of a difference in one family, imagine how safe our planet would be if every driver took simple steps in educating themselves on road safety. According to an article written by Katy McWhirter, “AAA found that teens who took a driver’s ed class lowered the risk of getting in a crash by 4.3% and receiving a traffic ticket by 40%.” This proves that simply educating drivers makes a significant impact on the safety of the road.

I had an experience when I was new to driving that shook me for weeks. I was driving home from school and got to a left turn. The light was blinking yellow, so I pulled forward. Unfortunately, an opportunity to cross safely didn’t come immediately, and the light turned red. I had never learned what I was supposed to do in this situation, so I just stopped a decent distance into the intersection, scared out of my mind. A couple drivers looked at me, confused, as they swerved past my car, and one truck even honked at me to get out of the way. I had no idea what to do, so I reversed backwards to get out of the intersection. Luckily there were no cars behind me, but when I think of this experience, I picture how I could have avoided it completely if only I had known the rules of the road a bit better.

I strongly believe that education is hugely important to safer driving. Yes, driving accidents happen due to other circumstances as well, but having an understanding of the rules and regulations can make a huge difference, and I know that from personal experience in my own life. Education can lead to safer driving, which leads to a safer planet for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians alike.