Drivers ED is NOT a Joke!

A memory that I will never forget is my experience in drivers ed class. My parents signed me up for driver’s education as a way to get me more practice behind the wheel, but what they didn’t know was that I would learn a whole lot more than just driving. I would go on to learn how to drive safely on the road, what to do when people you know aren’t driving safely, and what to do to avoid dangerous situations.

My driving instructor’s main lesson that he drilled into us students was safety. This was because the lead driving instructor’s daughter had passed away in a car crash. The main lesson we were taught was to keep our phones “Out of reach and out of sight.” This was a good lesson because when we practiced driving, our instructor would tell us to put it in the center console so we could have all eyes on the road. This led to me learning about “Defensive Driving.” Defensive driving is about anticipating other drivers potentially acting unsafely on the road so that you can adapt and overcome potential dangers. This lesson has personally been taught to me by my mother as well because she doesn’t want me to get hurt driving because of other people’s irresponsibility.

Another helpful lesson I learned in driver’s education is that you should value your safety in your car instead of the time spent in it. This means that getting somewhere faster does not always mean you are going to get there safer. When you speed, you greatly increase your risk of getting into a car crash. What my driving instructor was very diligent about was checking our speed. He ensured we learned how to keep an even throttle on our car. If we weren’t maintaining a safe speed he would alert us, and if we were driving too slow he would encourage us to drive the speed limit. This lesson goes along with him teaching us not to rush traffic. If you try to drive fast in traffic you are not going to get anywhere and you are just increasing the risk of danger for everyone. Every day I see someone speed past me just to see them at the same stoplight and I think back to this class I took.

This class has taught me to be a safe driver and it’s not just applied to my safety but the safety of my friends and family as well. I am extremely close to my family and friends so to lose any of them to a car accident would be horrific, and to have it be my fault, traumatic. Whenever my family or friends are in the car I just think back to the videos of sad stories my instructor made us watch of families expressing their feelings about lost loved ones and how they wish they were more safe. I never want to feel the pain they are feeling, that is why I drive safe. An example of my driver’s education coming into play when I wasn’t driving was when I was with my friends getting lunch at school. We were driving to Chick-fil-A and the two in the back weren’t buckled and the driver was constantly on their phone changing the music. I immediately noticed that this was an unsafe situation. I remember back to my driver’s class and becoming a defensive driver. In the passenger seat, I was constantly scanning the surrounding area for any threats on the road. I would do my best to keep my friend off their phone by offering to change the song for them and I would remind them to keep their eyes on the road. And of course, I was buckled up. This shows that driver education isn’t just for when you are driving, but for whenever you are in a car, be the best influence you can.

The number of deaths caused by motor vehicles is not something to glance over. Over ninety fatalities are caused every day in the United States because of automotive vehicles. Increasing driver education in and out of the driver’s seat is the best way to lower these numbers and spread awareness of this nationwide problem. If you are a parent it is highly encouraged to enroll your children in a driver’s education program. It is not just to get your kid more comfortable behind the wheel of their car, but to increase their safety on the road as a whole. I can personally say that taking driver’s education was one of the best decisions I have ever made because it has made me a more responsible, conscious, and safe driver on the road.