The Importance of Drivers Education.

Driver’s Education is imperative towards the safety of drivers in the United States. Honestly there should be refresher courses throughout different stages of life. There are new laws passed about driving, yearly, that like any other licenses (Nursing, Lawyering, Teaching, etc) we should be doing our best in understanding those laws. Making sure that we are being safe for ourselves, and for others on the road. The emphasis in reducing the fatality rate, as a result of driving, should be the prerogative for all drivers on the road. Any other kind of heavy equipment deserves a certification that you must recertify, why can’t driving be the same?

Some of the steps that we can take are refreshing those new laws and regulations. Know the equipment you are using. Do daily inspections and make sure that maintenance is up to date, especially on longer trips. Understanding your state or way of travel’s weather patterns. Are the roads that you travel on have a high risk of accidents? I know a certain Pass/Highway in my state has a higher number of crashes than the other highways to go across the state, so I take ‘the path less traveled’ because I do want to make sure that I don’t become a statistic.

Several friends and family members have been in crashes, but the one experience that comes to mind is my wife’s. She was traveling for work, and she had to do daily inspections on her truck. While she was traveling past a merging lane, there was an RV on the side of the road. It started to merge into her lane, to which she couldn’t swerve or get out of the way, because she had an 18 Wheeler on her left matching her speed. Miraculously she was sandwiched between the 2 vehicles and only after the driver of the 18 wheeler noticed she was stuck, did the ‘car sandwich’ pull over on the side of the road. No one was hurt, and after exchanging the information that was important to the case, did my wife find out that the person in the RV did not have their license. They didn’t take classes, they just thought having a state ID was enough to drive. All of that scary situation could have been easily avoided. There were 2 professional drivers that were doing their jobs, and due to an inexperienced and non-educated driver, She could have easily lost her life.

Irresponsible drivers are everywhere. You have where people think that they can check their phone at stop lights is the proper way to do things. You have people who don’t get their full hours of sleep, and that can be as bad as drunk driving. When you are operating a heavy piece of machinery, you need to be on the top of your mind game.

Easily, you can make your phone handless, if it isn’t already built into most vehicles today. You can keep your mind fresh by drinking the right amount of water, eating properly, and getting enough sleep. Like countless school assemblies, don’t drink and drive. Even if you feel like you are sober, you should always wait the 90 minutes per serving of alcohol before driving. If you don’t trust yourself with that, get a designated driver. My friends and I have a rotation on who is driving after a night out so that we all know we get home safely. You need to make sure that your maintenance is up to date on your vehicles. Yes there are some freak accidents, but most are avoidable. Learn the new laws of the road. Learn about all of the hazards of the road. One I learned recently is how gravel can be just as slippery as Ice if you are speeding down a gravel road. It isn’t the rocks hitting your windshield to be worried about, it is the dirt falling out from under the car to make you swerve and lose control. Make sure you are aware of your surroundings on the road. You may be educated on the laws, but not everyone makes that choice. Each state even has different laws, one of them that changes over state lines is how far back you should be from the car ahead of you. My rule of thumb is a car length every 10 miles per hour I am going. So 40 miles per hour, makes it 4 car lengths.

Just understanding your equipment and your surroundings should help you, but always remember to make sure you are educated on how to drive and your area of travel, because some people might not take those precautions.

Travel safe my friends.