Learning Positive Driving Habits

Learning Positive Driving Habits

Driving safely is important in preventing car accidents. Especially as students are learning to drive, it is extremely important to err on the side of caution, and drivers should always follow the laws, which are in effect for their safety. While young drivers are learning this new skill, it is paramount that they use good habits from the beginning – wear seatbelts, drive under the speed limit, use blinkers and other communication devices of the car.

Drivers’ Education teaches the rules of traffic regulation and the habits important to good driving. They address the mind by telling students the rules and the ill-effects of not following them and making bad choices. Also, they address the heart by sharing the consequences of specific people’s decisions to disregard the rules. By this two-fold appeal to students, Drivers’ Education is greatly effective at teaching students what they should do when they are on the road.

However, while Drivers’ Education is important in teaching these habits, the most important influence in the lives of young drivers is the example of role-models and mentors. It is not likely that young people who have seen their parents and their friends’ parents disregarding the rules and following bad habits all their lives will learn to value good habits from a teacher over the course of a semester. The Drivers’ Education course may, for a time, make them slightly more careful, but they are ultimately going to follow the example of the adults they have been watching all their lives.

Another valuable influence on a driver’s habits is experience. If a driver always speeds, never wears their seatbelt, and never uses signals but also never gets punished or caught, their bad habits will be reinforced by experience. On the other hand, a minor accident could teach them the importance of adhering to rules and recommendations of experts. When a person is in control of a car, they have the responsibility to protect to the best of their ability the lives of the people in their car and those they meet on the road. Some of the people I know personally regularly speed and drive somewhat recklessly. These people have been in worse wrecks than the people I know who drive more safely.

Many people are doing things to prevent traffic-related deaths. Greater awareness of these opportunities may lead to greater road safety. People are teaching about how bad habits have led to terrible accidents. Others are practically teaching the proper responses to emergency situations such as hydroplaning, using simulations of these situations. Another way to prevent deaths on the road may be to raise awareness in adults in addition to new drivers, so that they can learn better habits and teach them to their young children. Accountability between teen drivers and their parents could be another way to improve safety. And, while peer pressure can often lead to bad choices, it is also able to encourage good choices. It is my desire that I will be able to positively influence my peers in their driving habits by encouragement and support.