Why Driving Education Can Save Lives

Why Driving Education Can Save Lives

By: Mya Baumer

According to the CDC about 1.35 million people are killed on Americas roadways. With more and more people driving these days, driver education is crucial to make sure that the amount of deaths due to car collisions goes down. From a young age many of us were taught to wear our seatbelts because we knew that it was something that kept us safe. Now that many of us are driving we need to know what we can do as a driver to keep ourselves and our passengers safe.  Making sure that we know important road signs, where our blind spots are, and what we should be keeping an eye out for on the road. These are things that can help us become a better and safer driver.

Some steps we can take to reduce the number of driving related deaths is to make sure that everyone on the roads is driving with a valid driver’s license and make the consequence for driving without one a bigger deal. Too many people drive without a drivers license and so this means that they are driving without a proper education on the rules of the road, they might drive safe enough but if they don’t know simple things like right of way and blind spots they can get in serious trouble. The consequence for a first offence penalty for driving without a license in Wisconsin is a $50-$2500 fine and a suspension. If this consequence was something greater like jail time or a misdemeanor put on your record less and less people will drive without a license which will reduce the amount of crashes and the amount of driving related deaths.

I have personally never been in a car accident, but I have seen a lot of people in my life drive irresponsibly. I think we can all say that we have broken a couple driving laws like not stopping all the way at a stop sign or not stopping fully to turn at a red light. Staying vigilant and aware of our surroundings is something that can help everyone stay safe. A lot of people I know get too confident however and that is where things can go wrong. Even if you pass the same stop sign everyday and always roll through the stop because you know nothing has ever happened, environments change every second and just because it’s been safe every other time doesn’t mean that it is going to be safe every time.

Some steps that I can take to be a better and safer driver is to make sure that I am following all of the rules of the road because they have been put in place to keep me and other drivers safe. I will make sure that I do not speed and that I stay aware of my surroundings when I drive, this includes pedestrians and other vehicles. Being attentive and following the rules is the only way to keep the roads safe.