Modern Driving

It’s something that many of us do on a daily basis. Whether it be for work, for school, or even for the gym, we find ourselves driving places. And there are so many factors taking place even just going on a small trip. Think about all the things that could happen just with a small drive. Yeah, there’s a lot that can take place but our minds often put that out of mind so we can well, focus on driving. But today, I’ll be covering a variety of topics about driving: topics like the importance of driver education, steps to reducing the number of deaths, and even a personal story or two. So, let’s jump right in.

Let’s start with driver education. It hasn’t really changed all that much in the last 50 years or so. You take a driving class, pass your test, and you’re ready for action. But I’ll say this. Just like many other things in life, it’s not so straightforward. When I did my driving school classes, the teacher was just this dude who sat in the passenger seat and had me drive around. It didn’t feel like he had an investment in me learning for example if a family member or good friend was teaching me. So even though I passed the school, there was still a lot I hadn’t experienced. And on the driving test itself, the person watching me take the test was also not very invested. They just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t get us in an accident and so long as I didn’t do that, we’d be peaches. So what gives? Well, that’s the thing, we’re human. So a great way we can raise awareness of the importance of driving education is by setting realistic expectations. Let students know that even though they’ve passed, there’s still a ton to learn and to be vigilant and aware of their situations. As well, we can start changing things before the students even reach the driving test. With the new technology we have, we can create Augmented Reality renditions of driving events and have students work through them, so they can see more rare but still common scenarios they can run into and how to go through them without being overwhelmed and not knowing what to do. And lastly, culture and driving. Our families and friends are a big influence on us, and usually, they’re the ones to teach us to drive even from when we’re kids. As curious kids, we ask mom and dad how they drive and they start talking about how they drive. Isn’t it possible that that can rub off on us? So, having instructors or people at these driving schools ask more questions about the experience the student has had so far with driving can give them a better understanding of what this person’s upbringing has been like and if there are things that need to be tweaked now versus them getting into an accident later. That’s what I’ve got on the importance of driving education.

Now, reducing driving-related deaths. Let’s keep in mind the modern world we live in and it’s new technologies. I know I complained a bit earlier that the teaching hasn’t changed in a very long time and that people today, especially young people, may need a new way to take in information with the lowered attention spans we live with. So firstly, we can use AI. I know it’s all the buzz but hear me out. It allows for extreme personalization with minimum work. So what if we can get students to describe what their usual commutes look like/ the car they’ll be driving and have the AI give ideas of what obstacles they can run into? Furthermore, if the problem persists or gets worse, we have companies like Tesla coming up with automated driving. And though this technology is still in the works, we’ve already seen it be run successfully. So if we can remove that mistake-filled human element in the driving mix, wouldn’t it be possible that it’d make driving safer? I believe so. But if we want to stay away from AI, no biggie. What if we gamify the learning and driving experience? For example, look at the app Duolingo. It’s made learning a language, something that’s usually tedious, something that’s fun, quick, and can be done daily to have your pattern recognize the language. So, what if we do the same for driving? App users could win prizes and feel rewarded every time they complete a new virtual driving challenge or learn about signs on the road. We can even keep a leaderboard of who’s being the safest driver out there, which’ll bring out that competitive spirit and ironically make people much more aware of driving habits. So, with, these new, modern techniques could make people safer drivers on the road, which would lead to fewer driving-related deaths. With that, thank you.