Skylar’s Driver’s Education response

Driver’s education is important because it teaches you about the rules of the road and teaches basic skills about driving a car. Following the rules can help you become a safer driver and gain experience to become a more skilled driver which ultimately will reduce the number of accidents or deaths.

When I think of some of the steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, I feel the most important step is wearing a seatbelt. Wearing a seatbelt will save your life. People may not think that an accident will ever happen to them, but it could happen, and it could not be a fault of your own, but it could be someone else’s fault. Maybe that driver isn’t paying attention or is drunk driving or had a health condition like a stroke or seizure that caused them to crash.  My point is, wearing a seatbelt will help protect you from permanently hurting yourself or even dying. Not wearing a seatbelt is a risk I will not take. Another step is drive within the speed limit.  Speeding can cause you to get a ticket which is very expensive to pay. Having a speeding ticket can also cause your car insurance to increase and it could increase really high if you’re a younger person driving under 25 years old. Speeding could also cause an accident where your car would get damaged or totaled. Someone could also get hurt or die. There are other steps that we must follow such as stopping at a stop sign, slowing down at a yellow light, looking both ways, not riding up on other cars and not having road rage just to name a few. Road rage is unnecessary and could also get someone hurt.  One time I saw a car come to almost a complete stop on purpose because the other car was riding too close behind them. The first car slammed on their brakes and caused the car behind them to swerve off the side of the road. Both were in the wrong, The person that slammed on their brakes and the car that was following too close. The car following close was what caused the other driver to slam on their breaks. All in all they both had road rage. When driving, you have to be courteous, thoughtful and kind.  When I think of Being thoughtful while driving I think of not honking at someone because the light turned green or honking because another driver is driving too slow. Being thoughtful is giving the person a chance to see that the light turned green. Being kind is letting a car over that might be in the wrong lane or letting someone go first when you have to merge in a lane.  I noticed that some drivers don’t show this type of kindness. I think drivers need to be more patient with one another overall. Especially people who’ve been driving for a long time, some of them could show more grace to younger or inexperienced drivers.  That grace will maybe help someone get through a stressful driving situation because all drivers are not 100% comfortable behind the wheel.

I’ve never been in an accident but I do see some of my family members texting while driving.  When I saw this, I told them to put the phone down. One time I grabbed the phone. I know they are experienced drivers but looking down 1 time could be all it takes for an accident to happen and again it could be someone else’s fault but if you’re texting, you’re not fully paying attention to the road. The bottom line is you have to pay attention to everything going on around you while driving to avoid accidents.

Driver’s education is also important in order to learn how to be a defensive driver.  There are all sorts of adverse situations that could occur while driving where your defensive skills need to kick in. For instance, pouring rain makes it hard to see clearly sometimes. It could be that you see just fine but another driver may not be able to see as well or they could simply be scared to drive in the rain.  With that said, you have to watch the road very carefully and watch the other drivers around you as well. Another adverse situation is snowy or icy conditions.  You can’t drive too fast when it snows because there could be black ice which you can’t see and that will cause the driver to slide and could potentially cause an accident.  My parents tell me to watch out for this black ice all the time when it’s cold and icy. Driver’s education helps instill confidence and that confidence increases the more you drive. Driver’s education also teaches skills that are necessary to be safe. You are protecting not only your life and the passengers of your car but the life of other drivers as well. I follow all of these steps to ensure my safety and the safety of others. I don’t speed, I wear my seatbelt, I don’t text and drive, I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs and I’m thoughtful and courteous.