Drivers Education Saved My Life

KeAnna Blue

2020 Drivers Education Essay

When it comes to driving I did everything on my own. I paid for my state ID on my own so that it would make it easier for me to get my license. I paid for driving school completely on my own, it was three hundred dollars and in the eleventh grade it took me a while to save up for it. I also paid for my license on my own and at 22 I just paid for my first car on my own, with no help and no car note. I say all of this to say that, doing this has made me value everything I have when it comes to driving more because I spent my own money and my own hard time on it.

The importance of drivers education in reducing the number of deaths from driving is tremendous. Even though there were things I already knew about driving before taking drivers education there were also many things I learned while taking it. An example is what to do when your car starts to slide or hydroplane, something I did not know or would not have known how to handle without taking drivers education.

There are many steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths while driving. There are two major steps that are the most important. The first is to make sure you are in the right state of mind as the driver, to be driving. This means not being impaired in any way whether that be by alcohol or drugs, or just being too tired to drive, or not having your glasses with you if you are visually impaired. The second step is to make sure that you are paying attention to your surroundings. This most importantly means on the road. You should always make sure you are not distracted by anything so that you are always able to give everything on the road your fullest attention to have the quickest reaction to anything that may happen.

I have been in a car accident that without driving school I would not have known how to control. One day I had been driving while I was extremely tired. I had drank a Starbucks extreme caffeine drink to keep me up. It was snowing that day and I had to drive on a lot of back roads to take my dog to the vet. While driving fast on these backgrounds, my car started to hydroplane on ice caused by the snow. If I hadn’t been driving so fast this most likely would not have happened. In the beginning the car immediately started to spin in a circle and I slammed on the brakes because I started to panic. All I could think of was a car coming and hitting me or me hitting another car. I then snapped out of it and started to use what I learned in driving school. I spun the wheel in the opposite direction and took my foot off of the brake. This helped to slow the car down and stop it from hydroplaning and thankfully the car hit a railing on the side of the road which stopped the car. If I did not utilize these skills the car would have continued to spin and I would have ended up in a lake that was a few feet further from the railing and it could have been a much more serious accident. Because of the skills I used I was able to walk away unharmed and the car unharmed as well.

There are many steps that I as well as others can use to become better and safer drivers on the road. One way to help others is to make sure that others are being safe on the road as well. Not driving while tired, if you see that someone is tired or impaired offering to drive for them if they are. Or figuring out another way home may that be uber, taxi, lyft or just calling a friend. I can be a better and safer driver on the road myself by making sure that I am always driving smart and not putting myself or anyone on the road around me in danger. This includes not being distracted while driving, making sure I am driving properly, making sure I am driving the speed limit in my area and much more. All of these many things could easily save my life and the people driving around me.