Drivers Ed, Safety on the road, and how it saves lives.

Drivers Education is important to reducing casualties on the road because it teaches inexperienced drivers things to watch out for to be safe, in addition to just making sure they know the laws. A lot of deaths and injuries from American roadways come from young drivers that are just starting driving, or in some cases, driving under circumstances they shouldn’t. Without Drivers Ed, there are a surprising amount of people without common sense. Young drivers might come across a complex situation, a stressful situation, or a dangerous situation without many tools to react. In addition, even if THEY are a smart driver, they may not know warning signs of an unsafe driver, and might get hurt due to someone else. Educating drivers on warning signs of unsafe situations, and how to avoid them, in addition to educating them to be safe themselves, will save many lives.

A specific example that my drivers ed program touched on was about semi trucks. I live in an area with a lot of through traffic from semi trucks and it’s really handy to know these tips. For example, making sure you are far enough before passing, understanding how difficult it is for them to slow down, and where their blind spots are, is really useful. It helps me stay safe around the many tractor trailers, and eases the stress on the truckers as well.

Another important way to reduce injury and death is to make a significant push for (particularly the young) drivers to abstain from harmful substances like irresponsible drugs, alcohol, or other addictions. Even if it’s not necessarily a driving specific topic, these factors are the cause of many tickets and accidents each year. If there was less driving while under the influence of these substances, the casualty rates would drop drastically.

Thankfully, I have never had the experience of being in a car accident myself, nor have any of my immediate family members. However, I have been in a couple very very close calls. One that comes to mind is while I was leaving from a music lesson of mine. I was at an intersection near the exit to the freeway and I had pulled in a little bit because I was turning left. I of course made sure to stay out of range of any other traffic moving through the intersection. The arrow turned a solid yellow, so I started moving, knowing the intersection would be clear right after this one car had driven through. However, the angles had lined up PERFECTLY so that my blind spot and the moving car shielded another car further back. From what I could tell, this giant black pickup truck had started speeding up a ton so he could catch the yellow light. However he was not nearly close enough to reasonably do so. Of course, he couldn’t stop his vehicle in time and just hammered on through. I didn’t notice until we were extremely close to each other. Luckily, I drove with caution as I pulled out, and was able to stop my car, and the driver who sped through the yellow (and potentially ran the red) swerved just perfectly to avoid any collisions whatsoever with the other cars. My judgment of course won’t be perfect due to the adrenaline in a situation like that, but I would gauge about a 3 foot clearance for either myself, or the cars waiting to go straight to be damaged. If it wasn’t for my caution, my car would’ve experienced a brutal T-bone and the damage may have affected surrounding waiting cars. This is why when I come toward a yellow light at an intersection, I make sure to make stopping my default, and only speed up if it would be unsafe to try and stop, so I avoid causing a similar situation myself.

I also can’t write about safety and drivers ed without talking about cell phones. They are addictive, but useful tools that can help us navigate, listen to music, or otherwise be safe while we drive, as long as we don’t also try to multitask with posting, texting, or trying to catch that gorgeous sunset as we drive along the highway. Not wanting to add to statistics about phones and driving, I always make sure my phone is silenced, and put in a cup holder face down (unless I’m navigating). If I leave it in my pocket, I’ll be too tempted to check if I get a notification. In conclusion, I’m extraordinarily grateful that I have been able to stay safe from death or injury while on the road (the former would’ve prevented me from writing this essay) but it is not just thanks to dumb luck. It has been thanks to me and my family’s caution and safety habits FIRST instead of learning the hard way.