2023 Drivers’ Ed Essay

Driver’s education is integral in helping reduce deaths in vehicle accidents. There are numerous steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. I have been in two vehicle accidents, I am also a 911 dispatcher, so I hear of accidents every day. Numerous steps can be taken to be a better and safer driver, and to assist others in becoming safer drivers as well.

Driver’s education is a necessary course for high school students. In the classroom, I remember learning so many things that I might have just glanced over if I was simply studying a manual. We used to go through scenarios, which was interesting. What do you do if you see a deer alongside the road? How do you signal if someone is about to back into you? None of us could wait to get out and drive. I thought this was beneficial as well. Not only did we get both observation and driving time, but we also got to learn skills our parents might not have known. My mom did not know how to parallel park, so she would not have been able to teach me that. I took the course in 1995, well before cell phones, and tablets.

I think that education is the main way to help reduce the number of deaths by vehicle accident. I refuse to use my phone while driving. That text message, email, or notification can wait. It is not enough to just tell someone not to text and drive. Every year at the high school here, they stage an “accident.” First responders, the fire department, police, ambulances, the whole nine yards. They use some of the teens in the school as crash “victims.” This is a valuable tool to deter teens from texting and driving and allow them to see how serious it is. Granted, I see adults texting and driving all the time. Even talking on the phone is a distraction. It would be good if the police pulled people over for using their phones while driving. That is another way people could learn and be convinced not to text and drive.

I have been in two vehicle accidents. One was because my dad fell asleep at the wheel while driving us from Mississippi to Wisconsin. He made a minivan into a micro van. Thankfully, everyone was okay. The second was because I slowed down on the interstate to avoid hitting a dog. I looked up in my rearview mirror, saw the car barreling towards me and thought, this is going to hurt. The driver of the car did a pit maneuver on me. I ended up in the median, facing the opposite direction I had been driving. Neither of us were injured, which was good, but both cars were totaled. I figured the driver had set their cruise control and was not paying attention. The other driver was in his 90’s. I am currently a 911 dispatcher, so I hear about accidents every day. Some of those are serious.

Several of my friends and family drive irresponsibly. My wife is one of those people. She gets annoyed when I ask her to put the phone down. It can wait, seriously. My mom continuously texts and drives. This has resulted in two accidents for her. My dad drives drunk. That was part of why he fell asleep in the vehicle accident.

Ways that I could be a better and safer driver would be, not daydreaming while driving, and not paying so much attention to the audiobooks that I listen to. I can stop listening to audiobooks when I drive. I will be able to pay more attention to the road and my surroundings. As people are heading out somewhere, whether co-workers, friends, or family, I always say, ‘Don’t text and drive.’ It probably gets on their nerves, but I would like to see them again.

In conclusion, drivers’ education is an integral class in high school, because it affords students the opportunity to learn things they might not learn from their parents. They also get valuable driving time and observation time. Education is the main way I think we can help people to understand why distracted driving is not a good way to go. Having experienced two car accidents myself, I can only imagine they would have been much worse had I been distracted at the time, at least for the one where I was the driver. Even if you have friends or family, like I do, that drive irresponsibly, you can still talk to them about it, and remind them to drive more responsibly.