Responsible driving

In my drivers education class I noticed many other students barely passing permit tests and driving lessons as well as lying about driving hours during the permit phase because they did not understand the importance of road safety and defensive driving. I live in western Washington where poor weather is common year round. Whether it’s high wind or pouring rain there are still people who drive seemingly unbothered by dangerous conditions. Other issues like unsafe speeding and mismanaged lane etiquette are also problems here in Washington. Learning defensive driving here is extremely important to avoid collisions, wrecks, and injury. I have personally used many of the techniques taught in my drivers education class. If it weren’t for my time learning how to avoid crashes I would have already been in several. Knowing how to avoid other dangerous drivers and drive safely in bad weather are the two most important factors of drivers education. Unfortunately, many people miss the mark and get themselves and others hurt. The steps that would impact road safety the most, and limit deaths caused by driving, are reconstructing portions of drivers education to cover more about avoiding disaster and collisions, and adding more about the physical elements of driving.

When I was around 14 I was sitting in the passenger seat watching rain drops when my mother was forced to come to an abrupt stop. Behind us, a teenage boy was following too closely and wasn’t able to stop in time. Luckily there were no severe injuries but his car was completely totaled. If this teenager was more aware that the weather would affect his ability to stop, and his following distance was unsafe, he could have easily stopped his car in time. Another thing I would also find beneficial to teach is to be more aware at crosswalks. When I first started driving I was too focused on other cars when at red lights and stop signs that I would often come close to pedestrians when turning at reds or at 4 way stop signs. Reminding students more often to look for pedestrians could potentially save lives. In a more specific case, Teach students to look for pedestrians when turning right on a red light. This is the problem I witness most. Drivers that are too focused on when to turn only look left to watch oncoming traffic cars. They then forget to check the crosswalk on their right for pedestrians. I have seen many near misses because of this behavior. Adding something about this specific topic regarding pedestrian safety would highly benefit new drivers who are more stressed in situations like these. Another component of avoiding collision drivers education did not touch on is what to do if your car loses traction on the road. My teachers talked about what to do when you hydroplane but not what to do if your car starts drifting. In conditions like snow and ice drifting becomes significantly more common. I have seen many videos of drivers over correcting or slamming on their brakes as soon as they lose traction. The right thing to do when you lose traction is very complicated and highly depends on your situation, and if your car is rear wheel, front wheel. Or all wheel drive. I personally believe that there should be at least one class that is one hundred percent dedicated to explain the fundamentals of keeping and regaining traction in both regular and extreme weather conditions.

One thing driver’s education is great at teaching is what to do when roads are wet. My teachers went into great detail about tire tread, what hydroplaning is and how to avoid it, and limiting your speed under rainy or snowy conditions. A mark they miss however, is the physics behind the components of a car. I wish my teachers went into more detail about tire grip. For instance, how skinny tires vs wide tires react to weather conditions, or how tire pressure also affects traction. Tires are the main component of traction and knowing exactly what kind, height, and width of tires are best for each weather condition would really come in handy for new drivers. My teachers also never really covered the basics of each important piece of the car. Understanding what your engine, transmission, drive train, and suspension are doing when you drive could really come in handy for new drivers when trying to learn why you need to be more careful in certain situations.

In the end, if drivers education focused some more time on teaching how to avoid collisions, and crashes, and adding more about the physics of driving a car, Deaths and injuries due to vehicles would decrease exponentially.