Name: Makennzee Grace Savage
From: Bruceton Mills, WV
Votes: 0
Drivers ed
is essential for every teen. Teens, without a doubt, think they can
automatically get behind the wheel and start driving. Even though
teens may be familiar with driving, Drivers ed helps them
learn the laws of driving, develop safe driving skills and develop
basic fundamentals to become a licensed driver. Drivers ed
teaches safety and provides an opportunity for students to gain
confidence while behind the wheel. Students enrolled in Drivers
Education class will also learn the consequences that result from
poor driving. I believe this is an important part of the education
because it is devastating to families, neighbors and communities when
there is an accident that resulted from inexperienced drivers
thinking that they were in control. My community experienced an
accident due to a result of irresponsibility just last year and the
results were devasting. The driver was recklessly driving too fast in
a hail storm and suddenly lost control of the car. The result of this
accident impaired many lives in just a matter of a few minutes. A
passenger, whom was only a freshman, was declared to be braindead and
lost his life and a sophomore that was sitting in the passenger seat
is now paralyzed and is not expected to ever regain functionality on
his entire left side of his body. The news was heartbreaking, not
only to me, but the community as a whole. Since the accident, I feel
like student drivers at my school realized that driving isn’t just
fun and games. Responsibility was a factor that everyone realized was
essential while driving.
The Department of
Motor Vehicles has set driving requirements for those with their
driving permit to ensure teens are prepared to drive on their own.
They require teens to track hours driving, weather conditions and
time of day. The WV DMV requires fifty hours of driving experience
with varying time of day hours and varying weather conditions before
a teen can get their license. I believe this is a great step to help
reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Drivers ed is
a great opportunity to gain some of this driving experience while
having a professional driver in the vehicle to help guide students
when unforeseen circumstances occur and a student needs to react.
Steps that I take to be a better driver include reducing distractions
while driving. An example is I set my phone on “Do Not Disturb”
mode, absolutely no texting and I do not have a lot of friends in the
car. I make sure that there is no “horseplay” among passengers
and I control the noise level in the car so I can stay aware of my
surroundings. I also do not start driving until everyone is buckled
up. With the help of Drivers ed and accidents that teens
witness, I believe that teens will begin to realize the importance of
being safe while driving.
