In The Driver’s Seat Essay

I believe the consistency of driver education is one of the biggest keys to reducing deaths. Learning to drive usually falls heavily on your parent(s) or guardian(s), but everyone on the road seems to have a different idea of how to act in certain driving situations. For example, some people think when you merge onto the highway or freeway, it’s your job to adjust your speed to everyone else while others believe those already on the road should be adjusting their speed to accommodate for those merging in. My driver’s education teacher in high school can say one thing to do while driving, but my parents could say something completely different based on their own experiences. We’re all entering the roads with different instruction manuals. If we all got a different rundown of how to drive, how can we all be expected to complete the same math problem successfully (aka, all drive in a safe and consistent manner)? If we were all on the same page, there would be less confusion and less opportunity for accidents.

Despite the harshness of the idea, I think it should be more common to be punished for reckless or unsafe driving. I’ve seen a number of people get chased down by the police on the highway for driving well over the speed limit and zipping between other cars like a gazelle being chased down by a cheetah in the savannah. But what about the smaller roads or large intersections? You can still speed on a residential road and run the risk of hitting somebody, pedestrians or other drivers. Deaths can happen anywhere, and I think it would be worth the time to enforce more safe driving practices on smaller transgressions like unsafe lane changes or unreasonable following distance between cars. Furthering everyone’s education on how to drive safely is also very important. Taking a driver’s education class was optional at my high school; not everyone is getting the full rundown on the rules of the road like in a driver’s education class if they choose to not take one. But we’re all going to end up on the road at some point. It would be safest to apply more consistency to driver’s education by making it a mandatory course to take. That way everyone in the class is absorbing the same knowledge which is most likely coming from the official state driving manual. Reiterating my previous point, if we all learn the same things for a subject, we can all succeed in the correct and safe way. We’re all a little bit safer on the roads when we all know exactly what we’re doing.

In the fall of 2023, I had what I would like to call a little fender bender after getting off work for the night. This entry point for my work parking lot is a hot spot for bad driving, because the only ones who have to stop are the people who are exiting. Those turning in to enter each seem to have a different idea of who has the right of way in this specific area. Some people are cautious turning in because it’s a busy and compact area. But others just swerve in assuming everyone else will stop for them, and the parking lot becomes theirs. I was driving past the entry point and a black SUV came whirling into the parking lot, effectively cutting me off so fast I didn’t have time to even register fully what was happening and stop in time, so I ran into it. We were both fine with some small damage to our cars but the moments following I was in sheer panic, unable to get a handle on myself. This was my very first car accident, and I’ve been paranoid at that intersection ever since. That one experience left me convinced someone is going to swerve into another intersection at any moment and hit me, which isn’t entirely false given not everybody is the safest or most aware driver out there.

As important as it is to be aware of yourself when driving, you have to be just as conscious of the people around you. As my mom always says, especially when I first started learning to drive, “Watch out for the idiots!” I’m always focused on where I’m going when I drive, and I try to focus on everyone else around me at the same time. Many people on the road don’t acknowledge the other cars right next to them, assuming they’ll shift to their needs when we’re all going to a different place. I would offer my mother’s advice to everyone else in less crude terms; be aware of others just as much as you should be aware of yourself. We all share the road with one another so remember it’s not all about you. Being a good role model for other future drivers is just as important. We do as we see, so practicing good habits especially when others are in the car with me shows people what they should be doing when they start driving.