Education and Experience – How Driver’s Learn

Nobody plans to be in an accident or get killed while driving. The National Highway Traffic Administration reports estimate that 38,680 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2020. Many of these could have been avoided with proper education and experience.

Driver education plays an important starting role. An education can provide us with the knowledge of how to avoid or overcome a scenario we have yet to experience. Understanding proper following distances gives us knowledge of how speed impacts stopping distance. Learning how to overcome a tire blowing out on the road may help us get to the side of the road safely. Knowing how to get out of a submerged vehicle may save our lives. Understanding how to overcome brake failure can help us prevent an accident.

In addition, driver education should also focus on the proper usage of existing safety equipment. In 2006 according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, seat belt usage was only at 81.2% and unrestrained fatalities were at 45.5%. In 2019, seat belt usage was up to 90.7% and unrestrained fatalities were down to 38.5%. Using a seatbelt can save our life. Understanding how to hold the steering wheel can put us in a better position to maintain control of our car if the unexpected happens. Learning how and why we should maintain our vehicles is critical because a healthy vehicle may respond better in an emergency.

Finally, teaching not only the physical aspects of driving but also the moral responsibility is essential. We sit behind the wheel of a car weighing 2000 pounds or more and even minor collisions with others can lead to serious accidents. We are no more important than another driver and drivers are not entitled to drive recklessly or carelessly. Getting enraged at others and driving recklessly has no place on the highways.

While education is important, there are still other steps that can be taken to reduce deaths related to driving. The biggest is to work on eliminating the types of driving that can lead to accidents. Enforcing existing laws on distracted driving is a big first step. Nine percent of highway fatalities were caused by distracted driving in 2019. Our law enforcement should see distracted driving just as they do drunk driving and act accordingly. Both cause our focus to be on something else.

Using technology to prevent accidents will also save lives. Vehicle features that prevent drifting out of a lane or detect braking traffic ahead are now available in some vehicles. I believe these should become standard equipment in all cars. I would also like to see speed limit limiters in all vehicles using GPS technology to determine the speed limit and devices that monitor a driver to make sure he or she is not distracted and sound are warning if they are.

I understand the impact of education and experience. I was a passenger in a car that rolled onto it’s top when the driver was cresting a hill at an excessive speed and encountered a T-intersection on the other side. I was not wearing a safety belt and fortunately was not thrown from the vehicle. I recall the back window shattering in “slow-motion” as the car rolled over. I was only 12 years old at the time, but experiencing that accident before I was old enough to drive taught me a valuable lesson about driving safely in areas I don’t know well.

I am taking steps to be a better driver by remembering my driver’s education, emulating my father’s good driving, and trying to remember that my driving impacts others too. I encourage others to drive safely and remind them that accidents can have major consequences to life, property, and time and that many accidents can be avoided. When I drive, I try to set an example to my passengers and to others on the road. I buckle up every trip and have worked on being gracious with other drivers. My car doesn’t move until everyone in the vehicle is buckled in. I also have grandchildren, so I have kept up-to-date on technologies for child seats and make sure I know how to properly install them and keep them in the back seat for their safety.

I have not been in an at-fault accident in years and have used years of experience and driver education to protect myself and others. I have had brake failure and was not in an accident. I have had a blowout on the interstate without issues, and I give credit to my father and my driver’s education teacher for helping me get out of sticky situations.