How Drivers ed Can Save Lives

Megan Phan

Drivers ed
Initiative

31 March 2020

How
Drivers ed Can Save Lives

In
today’s day and age, driving is a necessity for many people.
Because of this, it is more important now than ever to ensure that
drivers are educated on the risk factors of driving. Educating
drivers is essential to reducing the number of deaths as a result of
driving. By educating drivers, they become more aware of the dangers
of driving. This will make them more cautious on the road and
therefore lower the number of deaths as a result of driving. Other
steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths on the road
include stricter enforcements of driving laws such as wearing a
seatbelt, not using a cellphone while driving, and not driving under
the influence of drugs. Many accidents are unfortunately caused by
drunk driving or people’s belief that they can multitask and text
while driving. This can be reduced through stricter laws regarding
both topics.

I
have had experience with dealing with the aftermath of a car
accident. Last fall, a local school in my area suffered the loss of
three high school age boys due to intoxicated driving. When I heard
the news, I was shocked. In an instant, the world around me turned
gray and bleak. The school affected by the accident went through a
long grieving period. There were even peers from my school who
grieved for a very long time after the accident since I live in a
tight-knit community. These boys had friends, family, and a life
ahead of them. All of that was wiped away in an instant.

The
friends and family of the boys will now have to live in a world
without them. In addition to this, their families had to pay for
their funeral services. Not only did the families suffer emotionally,
but they also suffered financially. Even today, six months after the
fact, I still see flowers put up by grievers near the place where the
accident took place. The effects of their deaths have altered
everyone in the community.

We all should care about driving education because it prevents
tragedies such as the one I witnessed back in October. When someone
dies due to drunk driving or even careless driving, their loss is not
contained within a small bubble. It affects many others; oftentimes,
it affects entire communities. Their loss has an impact on the rest
of us still living. We can all take steps to be better and safer
drivers by following the basic rules of the road: use a seatbelt,
don’t text and drive, don’t drive under the influence, and so on.
We can also be safer drivers by educating new drivers on how to drive
safely. Through educating drivers, we can all make the world a safer
place.