Name: Grant William Fleming
From: Brookfield, Wisconsin
Votes: 0
Among
the most coveted reasons for taking a drivers ed course or
enrolling a teen in one are lower insurance premiums, rudimentary
mechanical knowledge of cars, knowledge of the rules of the road, and
gaining confidence behind the wheel. Unfortunately, there is only a
modest correlation between taking a drivers ed course and a
reduced number of crashes on the road, which is a goal of driver
education we all like to think is being achieved. A
study done by the American Automobile Association Foundation for
Traffic Safety found that teenagers who take drivers ed are only
involved in 4.3 percent fewer crashes than their peers who
don’t take the class. This is one of many studies that have been done
on this issue, and while drivers ed is perhaps the best way to
learn to drive it doesn’t significantly reduce crashes or deaths.
Numerous studies have shown drivers are involved in vehicle crashes
not because they are uninformed about the basic rules of the road or
safe driving practices but instead as a result of inexperience and
risk-taking as seen with the disproportionate number of fatal crashes
with novice drivers.
There
are steps that can be taken with drivers ed to further prevent
crashes, and I believe that parental involvement or similar is of
utmost importance in this venue. Parents have a much greater
influence on their child than any online course or some instructor
paid to read a manual verbatim to an audience of uninterested
teenagers. When they share stories of crashes they personally were
involved in or close friends have experienced and the dismal
statistics with their newly licensed teen, their words can carry a
much heavier meaning than anyone else’s. Parents also can and
should lead by example when they themselves drive, not speeding,
driving defensively, and remaining void of distraction and
intoxication.
I
unfortunately have contributed to the overrepresentation of crashes
among teen drivers. When I was 19, I was in a hurry to meet up with a
friend to go golfing. My mind was on the luscious green grass and not
on the 3000 pounds of metal I was operating. I saw a stop sign
approaching and casually glanced to the left and right. It was a
barren rural country road and not seeing any traffic from my
imprudent quick glances, I rolled the stop sign at 15 mph before
being T-boned by another driver that I could have killed had he not
been attentive and slammed on the breaks.
It
is because of this experience that I am now a much more alert driver
because I don’t want to relive the traumatic episode, but this is
the very challenge we face. We want drivers to be safe and alert, but
we want these traits honed not as a result of accidents, learning
“the hard way” as some put it. It through sharing personal
stories like these that those such as younger siblings will be
inspired to not be a statistic as I was.
