It All Starts with a Turn of a Key

Madison
Marmaduke

31
March 2020

Drivers
Ed Essay Contest

It
All Starts With a Turn of a Key

Driver
education not only is important for the diver to learn, but can help
passengers and others who are not properly educated on the road stay
out of harm’s way. This education decreases the number of deaths
from driving by helping the participant understand the signs, light
signals, and the right roads to drive on. Signs explain what is
ahead, such as merging lanes, curved roads, or deer crossing. If
these signs go unnoticed or a driver does not know what a sign means
it can lead to cars merging together, losing control on a curve, or
hitting an animal, which all can lead to fatal accidents. This is the
same for light signals, when in a left turn lane at an intersection
the light might turn green, without being educated on what it
symbolizes, the driver can mistake it as right of way, yet the green
light actually means to yield for the cars going straight. Without
the education the driver would not know that a green arrow is the
right of way, potentially causing a t-bone accident. Drivers are also
educated on the right side of the road, this is the most important
rule of the road because without it cars would have head on
collisions from wrong way drivers.

Along
with drivers ed, multiple steps need to be taken to increase
safety. Making sure every passenger has a seatbelt is always the
first step. Without a seatbelt passengers can get serious injuries
from flailing around, but as well hurt others in an accident by
hitting them with a limb. Other steps include music and light
control. Loud music is known to be distracting, people get lost in
the music and start to have a decrease in attention from the road.
Lighting has the same effect, it becomes harder to focus as there are
other events happening in the vehicle. I already take these steps as
a driver because I have everyone’s lives in my hand that trusts me to
operate the car. I can help others drive safe on the road by making
sure that they take all the precautionary steps and help them
understand that the safer they are the safer I would feel because
their recklessness is in control of my life and you only get one. The
minute it is lost it can never be returned. This year a kid, who was
in many of my classes, died in an accidental car crash that left many
students, including me, heartbroken and in mourning. This was because
the driver was driving irresponsibly, over the speed limit on a curvy
road that was steep and the passenger was not wearing a seatbelt. The
tire blew out sending the car in a spiral and the passenger was
thrown out of the vehicle, shortly after it ended his life. This
incident could have been prevented in many ways if following the
right steps and implementing the education received. The driver could
have followed the speed limit, checked the tire pressure beforehand
so a blow out would be less likely, and the passenger should have
worn a seatbelt or the driver should have not started driving until
all seatbelts were on.

Without
proper drivers ed many fatal mistakes can happen on the road. I
highly recommend and encourage new drivers to take driving classes
like I did to further their knowledge about safe driving. Following
the rules of the road can determine life or death. Choose life, get
educated, and drive safe.