Drivers Education and Safe Driving

Drivers education is a program that can really help with teaching new drivers how to be safe on the road through teaching safe driving practices, how to react in different driving conditions, and also little tips and tricks that can help save time and frustration while learning how to drive.

Driver’s education is integral to reducing the number of deaths because there are many more stops and requirements someone has to pass before gaining the ability to drive. We need to make driver education more accessible and welcoming to learners, especially older ones. My driver’s education experience is mostly positive since I was under the age of 18. My sister was not as fortunate since she was 19 at the time and had to pay more money along with not getting the same benefit of getting the driving portion waived at the DMV if one passes through the course. Driver education is a formal and objective teaching of the laws of the road while home teaching tends to contain less information about specific situations one might find themselves in.

I think a reform to the way that Drivers education is taught is really needed. I attended one in Oregon back in 2017 and I could barely stay awake while the instructor droned on and on in a monotone voice and showing slow videos that could have gotten the point across better and show a more accurate representation of what it is like being on the road. Another step to reducing deaths related to driving is to reduce the amount of years a license is valid. I’ve always found it strange how the ability to help preserve a life through CPR and First Aid is challenged every two years while the ability to potentially take a life in a vehicle is only challenged every eight years. The competency and knowledge of a driver changes a lot over the course of two years, so why is driving not taken as seriously as First Aid/CPR? Imagine if we were required to take a recertification test like most other professions related to life in order to keep our license. It would help weed out less competent drivers and those that do not take driving as seriously. If they passed the recertification driver’s education then that shows they are determined and want to be a safe driver.

I was not in the car when it happened but my older brother was driving home after work one night and got in a crash because he accidentally ran a red light. The collision was a T-bone hitting his passenger side engine well. He was so fatigued and had taken the same route home for the past five months that he expected a light at the top of a hill to naturally be green, since it normally is when going up. Another one of my brothers was in the passenger seat of the car with the driver and he was really shaken up after that. It took the passenger-brother six years and a lot of pestering from my parents and siblings who had to drive him around until he finally got his license. He’s still terrified of the road and sudden movements from driving because of that one crash.

My parents and driver’s ed class emphasized preventative driving. The core aspect of that is being aware of all of the vehicles around you and taking note of how they might act. By anticipating situations, I have avoided many accidents and scary situations. It is also important to understand safe vehicle control. The memes of people with a bunch of watch cups, while exaggerated, are a great example of why safe handling is necessary. Passengers do not have as much anchoring as a driver does. Sudden braking and accelerating is very dangerous as well. There have been multiple times where I’ve avoided an accident because I took my time moving from the brake to the gas and someone decided to run a red light. While they broke the law, I would still be out of a vehicle if I was hit. It also helps other vehicles understand and prepare for your movements if you are slower and take the time to do the maneuver properly.Something that I have seen a lot of while on the road is the lack of blinker use. Instead, vehicles ride the centerline and expect others to move out of their way. I emphasize the use of blinkers because they are to help others on the road know what you are about to do next so they can react accordingly. I’ve seen my fair share of cars stopping immediately because the vehicle in front of them was making an unsignaled turn.

Driver’s education is an objective teaching of the laws of the road and helps prepare learners for how to be safe, preventative, and responsive while driving.