Keeping Teenagers Safe

Imagine you are getting ready to go to high school. You get in the car, put on your seat belt, check the mirrors, turn the engine on, and you drive carefully to the bottom of your road. You are waiting at the intersection and all of a sudden a car turns left and rams into you. Well that is exactly what happened to me. I was completely shocked by what happened, and I had been driving for ten months. By attending drivers’ education, it prepared me for what situations could happen and how to deal with accidents. Drivers education and Behind the Wheel teaches teenagers how to drive safely, how to become safer on the roads, and how to keep safe after getting a driver’s license.

It is essential that teenagers attend drivers’ education and Behind the Wheel as it teaches students how to drive safely. One report stressed that 24% of teens that did not attend a driving school are more likely to be in a fatal accident, and 75% will get a ticket. Learning the rules of the roads such as road signs in drivers’ education, helps teenagers to learn what the symbols are. For example, octagon signs are red and communicate Stop! Triangle signs are for drivers to yield, vertical signs give instructions or state the law, horizontal signs give directions or information, and diamond signs are for hazards ahead. Without learning this information, a teenager would not know what all these signs mean. Traffic signal lights teach that red means stop, flashing red means stop, yellow means the light is about to change, flashing yellow means slow down, and green means the way is clear. Without drivers’ education and Behind the Wheel, teenagers do not thoroughly know what these traffic signals mean. Once students learn the driver’s manual then they are prepared for the drivers written test, and how to be safer on the road when they learn to drive behind the wheel.

Drivers education teaches teenagers how to become safer drivers. They have learned the fundamentals of what the road signs mean and the law on driving. However, drivers’ education will demonstrate the consequences of teenagers driving when they are influenced by alcohol or drugs. The videos are shocking, but it drums into the teenagers how drugs and alcohol can destroy lives. Law enforcement come into high school drivers’ education to discuss and present videos on scenarios of teenagers drinking or taking drugs due to peer pressure. They then get into their car under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and get into an accident. They will either survive with minimal injuries, or a friend dies because of them. That person has to live with the knowledge that they killed someone and may even end up in prison. In a matter of a night, they have destroyed their life. Drivers education uses scenarios to use shock factors to stress the dangers of driving under the influence and to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Without this, teenagers drive without the knowledge of how to keep safe and the numbers of deaths will continue.

After completing drivers’ education and Behind the Wheel, teenagers can do a lot to keep themselves safe and also their friends safe. Some insurance companies provide discounts for teenagers that are on their parent’s insurance or even their own insurance.  They can download an app which helps them to realize their speed, acceleration, braking, cornering, and phone distraction. It will motivate the teenager to save money on insurance, but more importantly to keep themselves safe and maintain good driving habits. They can pass this on to their friends so they too can save money and keep safe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has provided how to keep safe in all types of weather. Since winter is just around the corner, this website provides tips on how to get prepared and keep safe as 17 percent of crashes occur during winter (“Report a Safety Problem/NHTSA”). For example, teenagers need to check their car battery that it is in good working order, tires are not bare, there is enough coolant so the water does not freeze, and the wipers work. They also need to have in their car flashlights, blankets, a flare or emergency light, and jump cables. This will keep them safe if they break down in these weather conditions. Teenagers need to drive slowly in rain, snow, and sleet which they learned in drivers’ education and Behind the Wheel.

Drivers education and Behind the Wheel is essential in learning the fundamentals of driving and also how to drive and keep safe. It teaches teenagers to know what the road signs means, the laws in driving, how to drive safely in adverse weather conditions, how to drive and keep themselves safe, but also their friends too. It also teaches the consequences when teenagers are under the influence of alcohol or taking drugs. It is for these reasons that students learn how to become safe on the road, how to drive safely, but also to continue to be safe after getting their driver’s license. Why would you not want to attend drivers’ education when this saved me when someone crashed into me and I knew what to do.