Drivers Ed: Not Applying What is Taught on the Road

Most teenagers who are ready to start driving dread the class portion of the process and want to just get on the road thinking most of it is “common sense”. I myself was not looking forward to having to take a class but there was so much I didn’t know, and I feared putting myself at risk with the unknown of what could happen. For some people, this does not phase them for reasons such as not being in an accident or crash, not seeing many accidents around them, or it’s just something processed and thought about. But the fact of the matter is that you never know what others have been doing and if it could cause danger, you never know when something may happen because of the actions of others. Drivers should always be alert when they’re driving and not switch to autopilot even if there are no other drivers around because there are other hazards out there that could cause fatality.

To reduce the number of deaths from car crashes, the most important step people need to take is attending driver’s ed classes. Although most people must go through the class before starting their in-car lessons, the students need to pay attention and retain the information taught to apply to the road. Drivers ed class is not like a regular school class where once the class is finished students do not retain any of the information, the information from a driver ed class needs to be retained because it will be applied every time you get behind the wheel and could save lives. Furthermore, to reduce fatality drivers need to be always alert and aware of their surroundings because you never know when there may be a drunk driver on the road, an animal running out in the road, or any environmental conditions which have affected the road conditions. All these points are stated throughout the driver’s ed course but since some students do not pay attention, this needs to be stated to make them aware of the dangers of being a driver, especially a new driver. But whether you are a new driver or an experienced driver it doesn’t matter because serious accidents can happen at any time!

I have been in an accident before but luckily it was nothing serious and no one was injured. What happened was I was slowing down to stop at a red light and someone at a stop sign who was looking down, potentially on their phone, did not look up and started to pull out into the intersection and hit me but neither one of us were going over fifteen miles per hour so no one was injured the only damage was my car and theirs. This was the only occasion I have gotten into an accident, but I have family who have gotten into near-death accidents. For instance, my uncle used to ride a trike and one day he got clipped by a truck pulling out of a restaurant and ended up in a ditch unconscious. He was not wearing a helmet, so he hit his head hard and had to be life-flighted to the hospital. There was a chance he could have lost his life, and the doctors didn’t think he would make it from the amount of damage he took to his brain. He did wake up from the coma and is currently doing well but he is now prone to seizures and has a hard time finding words, so he stutters often. After this he did not ride motorcycles or trikes again and encourages anyone he knows who does to wear a helmet when they are riding so nothing like that happens to them or worse.

Even after my uncle’s accident, he didn’t drive at first because of how often the seizures occurred and didn’t want to have a seizure while driving. After some time, he started driving locally but unfortunately, he did have a seizure while he was driving in his neighborhood. He crashed into a pole and was alright but was extremely worried he had hit the children who were playing outside on the corner that he was passing when the seizure came on. Fortunately, he did not hit the children but was scared after this, so he didn’t drive for a while until the seizures had really calmed down to the point where he barely had any. Currently, he is doing well and does not have seizures as regularly but he does still stutter and does drive his truck.

You never know when an accident can occur because of irresponsible drivers, however, there are approaches to make drivers safer on the road thus creating safer environments. To make sure there are safe drivers on the road people should make sure they are in the right state of mind to drive, meaning they are not intoxicated with alcohol or drugs which could impair vision and slow down cognition and coordination thus increasing the risk of causing an accident with others or with oneself. If someone I knew was intoxicated, I would not let them drive anywhere else. A second approach would be to have everyone retake the driver test every few years to ensure they know and remember signs, signals, hazards, and what to do in certain situations. If someone does not pass, then they should either retake the test again or retake a class to ensure they retain the information. This could help get irresponsible and unaware drivers off the road until they understand the risks that come with getting behind the wheel. Furthermore, this could help any elderly who may be too stubborn to give up the keys but are vision and hearing impaired due to old age put the keys away and realize the increasing risk they put on themselves and others when they get behind the wheel. This is not to be cruel or to say elderly people cannot drive because that is not true, but some elderly people become unaware as they get older and tend to almost cause accidents. This reminds me of my grandpa, he was too stubborn to give up his keys, but he would always get lost in a neighborhood he’s been in for years and drive to cities an hour or two away and thought he was near home. He lost his sense of direction and was unaware of the speed limit and bike lanes, so he ended up getting pulled over by police and eventually got into a small accident, this is when he decided to give up his keys.

To make myself a safer driver I will not go into autopilot when I’m driving and be aware of my surroundings, I will drive like I have someone else in the car with me when I’m by myself. I will not do distracting things while driving such as eating food, being on the phone, putting on makeup, and zoning out because I will put myself at a higher risk of getting in a crash and injuring myself and others. Other people should not be doing any of those activities while driving either. Drivers ed teaches new drivers all these things and people who are new on the road or who have been driving for years need to apply what was taught in drivers ed every day when they drive to create safer road conditions for everyone which will decrease the number of accidents and fatal crashes every year.