A Driving Generation: How Drivers Education Makes a Safer World For Everyone

I believe that education is the strongest asset anyone can have. The opportunity to be educated and well-informed has the ability to shape the way we view, interact, and even go about changing the world, and this same principle is applicable every time you get behind the wheel. When you are a driver, you take on immeasurable power and responsibility; many drivers, especially young ones, forget that they are not only responsible for the safety of themselves when they’re in the driver’s seat, but they are also responsible for every other person on the road with them. From your friends who are crammed in the back seat of your car, to a baby asleep in a carseat in the car next to you, when you’re in the driver’s seat, it is up to you to drive responsibly for the sake of those around you. This awareness can be achieved through adequate driver education.

I grew up in San Jose, California, where many drivers think speed limits and driver’s safety are merely light suggestions. Everyday, I drive past wrecked cars on the sides of freeways, and I see bicycle riders and pedestrians nearly get hit by reckless drivers, even in residential areas and school zones. Reckless driving, especially in big cities like the one I grew up in, can be life threatening for those who choose to drive on, or walk or bike alongside the busy city streets. I recall a time several months ago where I was sharing the road with an irresponsible driver, and it nearly cost me my life. I was driving home from work late at night, and I was waiting for the traffic light I was at to turn green. I heard tires screeching behind me, so I glanced in the rearview mirror to see where the noise was coming from, and I saw a small, white car swerving from side to side, coming in my direction at full speed. The driver’s side door was swung open, and the driver was dangling out of the car. The traffic light I was at had just turned green, so I slammed on the gas as hard as I could to get my car and myself far away from the driver, and I did not ease up on the gas until I was home. When I got home, I remember my whole body trembling as I walked out of my car and into my house. I was shaken for several days, and was even scared to get in my car and drive to work for several weeks. I eventually learned from my coworkers that the man on the road that night was drunk, and was being followed by mall security for driving drunk. I strongly believe, without a doubt, that if I was at the red light for even a second longer, and did not drive off as fast as I did, the driver would’ve wrecked into me and possibly others on the road, all because he decided to drive drunk that night. It is experiences like these that highlight just how reckless others can be while driving, and shows the cruciality of driver’s education.

Driver education does not only teach a young generation of drivers how to drive, but it can also be what stands between a young driver and a fatal car accident. Educating youth about the dangers of reckless driving and distracted driving is crucial in the driver’s education process. Statistically, 87% of drivers interviewed in a survey admitted to engaging in at least one act of reckless driving in the previous month. I strongly believe that making young drivers more aware of the dangers of driving recklessly will drastically decrease the number of drivers who choose to engage in reckless driving. This could be in the form of including more statistics regarding driving accidents into driver education lessons, or including real life stories of those who have been affected by the careless driving of others.

One way to plant the seeds of safe driving into young minds is to share and teach the statistics of injury or deaths that occur at the hands of reckless driving, whether it is texting and driving, driving while drunk, or another form of distracted driving, to young drivers. With young driver’s being as young as fifteen years old and the average age of teenager’s owning cell phones being the same age (Stanford Medicine), it is more important than ever to steer young drivers away from distracted and reckless driving. I also believe that raising awareness and sharing personal stories of encounters with reckless drivers, like the story I shared, can also be effective in making young drivers aware of how their actions on the road affect others.

Driving is a versatile and valuable skill that more and more young people are acquiring. When we all pair this skill with proper driver education, we create a safer world for everybody.