Name: Morgan Holubesko
From: Wakefield, Rhode Island
Votes: 0
I’ve
only been driving for a little over a year, but I have seen first
hand the importance of drivers ed. Once in a while, I am a
passenger in a car, not the driver, and I am usually in the front
passenger seat. I feel mostly comfortable being a passenger while my
friends are driving until……tailgating! When I drive, I stay two
or three car lengths away from the car in front of me but many people
don’t! I remember learning about how not to tailgate in driver
education class but I realize its something that drivers quickly
forget. I have seen friends tailgate in rainy weather, icy weather,
and congested traffic. Since tailgating can quickly lead to accidents
and deaths, I remind the driver about leaving space between the
vehicles. This is helpful for the driver in front of you AND
yourself. After my reminder, the driver usually slows down to create
space but they inform me that their parents drive that way and
nothing ever happens! There lies the reason all new drivers need
formal drivers ed. Most parents do drive safe, but not safe
enough to teach safety and the correct way to control a vehicle on
the road. If there was not formalized drivers ed classes,
habits of driving, good and bad, would be passed down from family
member to family member.
In
order to reduce the number of deaths due to driving, new drivers
could be asked to participate in a reevaluation once a year for the
first three years. This is similar to many evaluation systems in the
business/education world. For the first three years, upon the
anniversary of their license, new drivers could prove their safe
driving through a driving lesson. The focal point of this lesson
would be to demonstrate good driving habits, not take away a license.
If a driver doesn’t display good driving habits, then good habits
will be practiced and reinforced during the lesson. This would reduce
the number of deaths simply because people will drive safer longer
because they would know the reevaluation date was looming. While I
am on the road, I am a focused driver, ignoring all distractions that
come my way. In addition, I drive at or near the speed limit,
because I feel most in control of my car at that speed. I believe if
all drivers followed the speed limit and refrained from distractions,
there would be fewer accidents and fewer deaths on our roads.
