Josie’s Driver Education

I can recall the excitement I felt at the opportunity to finally be able to drive on my own. No more having my parents drop me off and pick me up. My mind often filled with all the places I wanted to go. And eventually, my own car, I could not wait. I saw my two older brothers go through driver education, take driving lessons, get their driver’s permits, practice by riding around the block with my parents and then pass the driving exam, but they both lacked the excitement I felt.

Our parents insisted we all take approved driver lessons through a driving school for a number of reasons. First, being to help lower the cost of insurance with three teenage drivers in the house. They also believed that having an objective professional would be instrumental in setting a good example for our driving habits. I came to value the experience that came from having both Driver Education in the classroom and from a professional driving instructor. The more I drive the more obvious it becomes that all drivers should be required to take an approved driver education class prior to obtaining their license regardless of their age. So many drivers become complacent and don’t follow the rules of the road, and as a result they cause accidents. These often time preventable accidents cause personal damage to vehicles, and more importantly can cause harm to human lives. With education comes knowledge and hopefully accountability.

After getting my driver’s permit, I remember practicing my driving with my parents. I can still hear my them saying “put on your turn signal.”, “move all the way up to the stop sign”, “make sure you look both ways”, and “fix your mirrors “. All things I was doing or about to do they just didn’t know it, and I just didn’t do them fast enough to satisfy them. All things that helped me to understand that they cared and wanted me to learn good driving habits. Now that I look back on it, I am thankful for their input and believe I am better for it. I have never been in a car accident; however, I had four friends who were recently involved in an automobile accident. They were hit by a drunk driver recklessly attempting to pass another vehicle and hit their car head on. They are still trying to recover from the accident. They had injuries from internal bleeding, broken bones, speech loss, and other physiological affects that may last far beyond the recovery of their physical bodies.

When I think of that accident, I often wonder how could that be prevented. Tougher laws are needed to ensure drunk or impaired drivers don’t cause catastrophic accidents while driving. Bigger fines and penalties for those individuals who get caught exceeding the speed limit in heavy traffic areas. What would help with this, federal laws for certain occurrences. If every municipality had the same standard punishment for drinking and driving, there would be no confusion about the law and what happens. Some states have fines, some have suspensions, some have mandatory community service and education classes, and some states have a mix of these. Why not every penalty for every state? The longer the suspension, the more it costs, and the more community service the more probable someone won’t drink and drive.

I can help other become better drivers by setting a good example. Seatbelts on and no horseplay, when I am with my friends, and I am driving I set the rules in the car. Getting on the right radio station or setting up my playlist, adjusting my mirrors, and putting my phone away are all little things I do before I drive off. These things are all habit for me now, but maybe one of my friends will see and follow suit. Always pay attention, unfortunately, the one thing you cannot control is other people driving. By reasonably paying attention to others on the road, I can also be safer on the road. Specifically, being patient behind the wheel and yielding when appropriate, being courteous and not tailgating someone in front of me, and being mindful at stop signs when the signal changes for that last minute person trying to beat the light.

I believe the importance of driver education is providing knowledge and experience to potential drivers. It is easy to see the benefits of individuals that take drivers education and how they are less likely to be involved in car accidents. Those that obtain drivers education have not only a chance to learn how to drive, but also an opportunity to learn how to avoid potential shortfalls. Those that receive their training from a family member, friend or on their own may not drive in various types of traffic, streets, and or in different weather conditions. Learning from a professional take the lesson subjectivity out of the process. In addition, instructors and businesses that provide drivers education have local and state guidelines to meet and provide to learning drivers. At the end of the day we should all want to be the best drivers’ we can and with that we become part of the solution and not the problem.