Drivers Ed: Is it Worth it?

There are close to 36,164 motor vehicle accidents every single day in the U.S. according to the National Safety Council’s report in 2021. That’s a real eye opener isn’t it? More than 1500 vehicle crashes in only one hour occur every day, of every week, of every year. Just think of how many accidents could have been prevented if every driver attended a drivers education class at one point in their driving career. I have attended drivers education classes and have been driving for 5 years, in many different states… so I believe that I can tell if drivers ed was worth it.

I did not enjoy drivers ed classes, rather I found them annoying because I thought it was common sense. However, some of the road signs were new to me ; I had no idea what squiggles on a sign meant. I was taught what the signs meant at the very end of my month-long session, which was held every morning before school. Most of the time we were watching those cheesy old videos, like the ones from the ‘80s with the big hair and the leg warmers, trying to teach us about car safety or drunk driving or something. During these videos, it made drivers ed seem so useless and boring, what did I even learn? After the written test, which I passed with flying colors, I wasn’t even sure of what I learned or if it helped me drive safely.

According to a study conducted by the University of Nebraska, “Young drivers who have not completed driver’s education are 75 percent more likely to get a traffic ticket, 24 percent more likely to be involved in a fatal or injury accident and 16 percent more likely to have an accident, the study showed” (Reed 2015). In my opinion, 75% is a LOT of drivers who were driving more safely after the education class. Even a few percent more likely for younger drivers not to get in an accident, let alone a fatal accident, is improvement. This suggests that drivers ed does help teen and young drivers learn road safety, and how to keep themselves and others safe on the road.

Thinking about drivers ed now seems so long ago, and I have come so far in my driving career since then. I think the biggest obstacle I have faced was my high school parking lot. That was the worst time I had, probably took the cake for the worst part of high school. After I faced that mess for the first time, one day after I got my license, I went to celebrate with my little brother and a friend at Dairy Queen. We went through the drive thru on our way home from the first day of driving to school, after the hell hole they call a parking lot, ice cream in one hand and steering wheel in the other I handed my brother my ice cream cone so that I could go and park. One second after I shoved the ice cream in my brother’s hand, all I hear is my friend scream and my car comes to a SCREECHING stop. The biggest truck I had ever seen drove on top of my car. Yeah, on top of it. The only reason I knew what to do in this situation was because drivers taught me what to do in case of an emergency, like an accident. They taught me to get insurance, call the police, and my parents of course. This accident was the other person’s fault luckily, but it could’ve just as easily been mine or any other young driver pulling out of the Dairy Queen drive thru.

Drivers Education taught me the right of way in not only parking lots, but stop signs, stop lights, and neighborhoods. If I wasn’t in the driver’s ed I don’t think I would’ve known that I was in the wrong during that accident, and I don’t think most kids would after just taking the written test. The written test doesn’t go into as much detail as drivers ed, and that detail definitely saves lives when it comes to right of ways on the road. Think how many people run stop signs, or have accidents at four way stops, it is a lot. The details of the roads help prevent this kind of thing, and could have prevented that accident in the Dairy Queen parking lot that made driving absolutely terrifying for me. I think driver’s education is important to teach young drivers stuff like this, and be required for drivers to get a license. It is such a short class that it makes it beyond worth it, and can help lead to safer roads for all drivers.