Importance of Driving Education

Ari’l
Bowman

Importance
of Driving Education

Before
you fasten your seat belt, before you check your gaslight, before you
adjust your seat and mirrors, is there ever a thought about how to
prevent an accident? “Just drive safe” they say, but what does
that broad statement even mean? When you’re behind that wheel, the
only certain thing is that you are in control of one factor; your
vehicle. Nearly 1.25 million people die is car accidents each year,
that’s about 3,287 deaths a day. To reduce the number of deaths as
a result of driving, the importance of driving education should come
before the importance of making safer cars. Those advantages of
cruise control, all-around awareness, and distraction mitigation
systems sound pretty nice, but aren’t going to do any good if the
driver behind the wheel is lacking common driving education. Not
knowing when is a good or bad time to break, or simply when to apply
more pressure on the gas has resulted in countless casualties that
are escalating every day. Kids are hopping in cars at earlier ages
and are not utilizing or demonstrating proper driving etiquette such
as the right of way system, the differences and effects of headlights
and low lights, or basic usage of turning signals. The lack of care
in driving education is becoming detrimental to everyone that travels
by streets and highways and roads. Mandating drivers ed in
high school, and maybe even middle school should be considered as a
step to reducing the number of deaths related to driving. Having one
on one driving sessions with driving educators at the DMV for adults
and children who have been in car accidents, or simply for whoever is
in need of driving education and experience, could remedy the lack of
driving knowledge. In my opinion it’d be better to learn from
unbiased driving educators then your parents because a driving
instructor is not going to yell and scold you for making a mistake,
they are going to work with you just like any other teacher in a
classroom would. I was a victim of my own recklessness in a car
accident. It is my fault not having experience and I took full
responsibility. Mother’s day of 2019 driving down a two lane road,
a SUV a few meters in front of me was in the lane that you could turn
left from. He was still, yet I didn’t slow down till the last
minute because I was foolish enough to think that would already be
turning by the time I’d reach him. Ultimately, I didn’t start
slowing down until my mother in the passenger seat spoke up. I was
too late, and ended up crashing into the back of the SUV. I froze
again and took my foot off the break and unfortunately rammed into
the SUV a second time. As I sat at the wheel eyes wide, my mother
exited the car to inspect the damage. Luckily the owner of the SUV
had no damage whatsoever, it was our car that took both hits. No
charges were pressed that day, and no one was injured. I reflect back
on that day a few weeks later and realized how much worse that could
have gone. I am thankful and very appreciative that I walked away
unscathed. The steps I took after that incident to become a better
driver included weekly driving lessons, retaking drivers ed
to get my permit, and being more aware of my surrounding when I am
behind the wheel and also while I am in the passenger’s seat. These
are steps I took myself, as I seen what I needed to work on to become
a better driver. If anything, the first step is taking the initiative
to want to be a better driver for your safety and for the sake of
others safety as well.