In the Driver’s Seat

Colby Gaines

11/12/20

Driver Education Initiative Essay

Driver Education Initiative 2020: In the Driver’s Seat

Driver education – the most important part of driving, ensuring that you and others stay safe on the road. With an average of 34,000 people dying as a result of driving each year, driver safety and education being important is an understatement. Being an educated and safe driver is the basis of keeping not only your own life intact, but others with you on the road safe as well. The more educated and knowledgeable people are about driver education and safety, the safer we all are together.

Have you ever witnessed or heard of someone you know, or maybe even a close family member of friend, getting into an accident? I have two different accounts of this, with both completely different outcomes: one being a dented front end of the car, and the other being a complete roll-over with excessive amounts of damage. The first scenario involved my own girlfriend. While she was driving with a friend and a 12-year-old family friend she was babysitting, an electric company van, with no caution, braked in the middle of the road and entered reverse, backing right into her car. Her reaction was to quickly try to back up and avoid the van, but the collision was unavoidable. Evaluating the situation, it goes without saying that there was poor driver judgement and safety in this situation. Anyone with an ounce of driver education knows that the van made an extremely unsafe decision by suddenly deciding to back up with not even a thought of checking the rear view mirrors. This is a clear example of poor driver education and how it can affect more than yourself. Thankfully, both parties went uninjured.

The next account is of my older brother, now 21, then 18, who was riding in the backseat of a SUV with five other friends. Going down the highway at 50 miles per hour, a driver from the oncoming lane, who was on the phone, swerved into the vehicle my brother was in’s lane. She hit the SUV my brother was in, and, unfortunately, he did not have a seatbelt on. The car completely rolled over, flipped right upside down and landed on its roof. Everyone survived, but there were some very gruesome injuries. My brother had to receive stitches on his head, which was probably the best-case scenario possible other than him being untouched. In this instance, we see poor driver education and safety from both parties. The woman should not have been on her phone since we all know that texting and driving is the LEADING cause of traffic related deaths today. This situation clearly demonstrates what can happen; it’s the one second you look down that you risk it all, and that’s not odds you want to gamble on. It goes without saying that never, in any situation, should the driver or passenger ride without their seatbelt on. Many people make arguments as to why the seatbelt is not worth putting on, as it is “uncomfortable”, or “doesn’t do anything”, but the fact of the matter is that seatbelts save lives: “78.7% of people in an accident wore a seat belt. Of total fatal accidents, 48.1% were not wearing a seat belt” (EdgarSnyder). My brother could have easily been one of those fatalities. He would have lost his life and done irreparable damage to his mom, dad, two younger sisters, and me. He consciously chose that he would rather take the risk and lose his life, than buckle up. This, is a prime example of poor driver education, and poor driver safety. He was fortunate enough to have no long-lasting conditions or injuries from the accident, and he’s taken advantage of this to use this as a lesson to always buckle up. So, why is it so important? Take my stories as a lesson – you can be the van that backed up, the woman texting while driving, or my brother with no seatbelt – or you can remember what you learned in driver education and be none of those. Driver education is important because it keeps you and others smart and safe on the road.

So, where do we go moving forward? “With 34,000 deaths on the road per year, and an additional 20-50 million who suffer non-fatal injuries” (Road Safety Facts), it’s easy to say something needs to be done, but what exactly needs to be done? There’re many things we can do to be a better and safer driver as well as help others become safer on the road, and reduce the number of deaths. First, we need to change the culture of how serious driver safety is. As a teenager, I can tell you firsthand that it’s only going to get worse if we do not change. Too often, our culture interprets distracted driving and buckling up as a low priority, low-threat. Let’s change that! It starts with prioritizing these things before we even put the car into drive. As a driver, it’s your responsibility to take care of the passengers in the car as soon as they get in. All it takes is a simple “does everyone have their seatbelt on?” to ensure your passengers are safe. Likewise, the driver needs to make sure that anything distracting – the radio, phone, food. – can either be dealt with by a passenger, or allow for it to have to wait.

Ultimately, time is precious, but lives are even more so. Knowing basic driver education such as right-of-way, checking mirrors every couple seconds, and basic road rules are where it all starts. So, when it’s 7 AM and you’re in your driver’s education course, be proactive, ask questions, listen; because this information is what will keep you safe and smart on the road.

Cite Page

“Road Safety Facts.” Association for Safe International Road Travel, 13 Apr. 2020, www.asirt.org/safe-travel/road-safety-facts/.

“Seat Belt Statistics: How Many Injuries & Deaths Per Year.” Edgarsnyder.com, www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/defective-products/seat-belts/seat-belts-statistics.html.