The Importance of Remembering Drivers Education

In 2022, 46,027 people died from motor vehicle related incidents. That number could be exponentially higher if it wasn’t due to the extensive training that people get in the classroom before they can obtain their license’s. Those hours that were spent in class help people understand the laws of the road and how to navigate the roadways to better keep themselves and their passengers safe while they are out and about. If we didn’t have any of the classes, the roadways would look like a Formula 1 race with cars weaving in and out of traffic and people turning whenever and wherever they wanted.

Drivers education helps people learn how to properly make a turn at a four-way stop, and the order that you are supposed to go in. Without those necessary skills, numerous motorists would be killed in people turning at the same time and causing head on collisions and T-bones. Learning especially how to drive and turn helps to prevent T-bone related accidents, which are responsible for roughly 50% of deaths on the roadways. The instructors in the drivers’ education classes help ensure that all students are well educated on laws and speed limits on the roads and help reduce the severity of crashes that inevitably happen.

One of the girls in my grade has been in several crashes, five to be exact, and has had two of her cars totaled. Some of the accidents she was driving irresponsibly and the rest she was only semi at fault. For her worst one she was going up to a roundabout and instead of stopping she decided to continue through the roundabout. Not registering that there was a car coming in the lane, she kept going and ended up hitting the other car on the back right passenger side. Bending her entire front left side and the other car that she hit was completely bent on their back left side. She walked away from the crash, but she had a concussion for a month and some pain in her wrist.

Her crash could have been easily prevented if there was more of an importance emphasized in drivers’ education on the amount of room a car needs to be able to go if they are at a roundabout, turn lane, or even merging on the freeway. While there is some mention of how to merge and when to go and not to go there could be more of a principle to go by where everyone would have to follow on the roadway. Instead of having such an importance on the speed that you are traveling at. Even though people should still be weary of the speed they are traveling at, there should be more of an emphasis put on how to properly drive, and drive safely by following all of the rules including: using your turn signal, speed limit, staying in your lane, and knowing who has the right away.
A lot of motorists don’t always remember the laws which they were taught when they were taking their driver’s education because they were a lot younger. So, there should be a test when you renew your license, which will vary depending on the state’s law when it requires you to renew a license. The test would not have to be too long, only a couple of questions, but if someone were to not pass then they would be required to take an online class which would go over the basics of driver’s education. Only after taking that class then they could be let back on the road.

There are certain times that I wish that some people would not be on the road because of their erratic driving which is putting their life and mine at risk. However, the blame cannot be on only those people and some responsibility should be put on me too. It is important for me to be aware of my surroundings and better react to those who make poor decisions such as running red lights. For example, not going immediately when the light turns green but rather pausing to look both ways before entering the intersection.

When I am in the car with my friends, I can help remind them to drive more carefully and obey all the laws of the road as well. Sometimes they can have a little bit of a lead foot and do not follow the speed limits as carefully as they should, which can cause more harm to themselves if they were to end up in a collision with another vehicle. Everyone should be weary while driving on the road to prevent becoming one of the many deaths that occur each year due to people not fully remembering or following the laws which they were taught while taking drivers’ education classes.