The Importance of Driver Education

As a person who’s been in a car crash, I believe driver education is a crucial learning course that every driver must know. In everyday life, knowing how to drive makes transportation much easier and more efficient, it can take you from place to place rather quickly, but it also involves a great deal of responsibility and focus.

Drivers’ education can be split into various components, which involve knowing how the car works, how to control the cars movements, and how to read the signs and signals from the other vehicles and the road. All of which are crucial as these rules/regulations are designed to keep everyone on the road safe. But also, drivers’ education involves taking safe and healthy personal practices that benefit your driving experience and overall health, such as taking breaks over long distances, limiting distractions, and prevention of driving under the influence, all of these contribute to not only your safety, but also the safety of others on the road.

In most car crash cases, the leading cause of them typically involved a degree of driving under the influence. The 3 most common reasons for why people engage in these situations include impaired judgement, a false sense of security, and simple embarrassment. According to the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility in 2014, about 1446 lives were taken because of driving under the influence in Texas, which made up over 40% of traffic fatalities in Texas. Personally, this statistic stands out to me in my own personal life because I was a victim of an alcohol-related car crash.

It was late night drive with my cousin and siblings, having a good time simply driving around my city while eating good food. As the night became long, it began raining heavy, eventually my eyes begin to feel extremely heavy, and I began to fall asleep. Suddenly, I feel a strong jerk against my body and hear a loud crash that woke me up suddenly, a blinding light is all I see, and all I smell is booze. As I regained consciousness, I noticed that my unconscious, bleeding cousin had open alcohol, next to him was my sister unconscious being pulled out of the vehicle, and I see the red and white lights of the ambulance, as I tried to move, I realized I couldn’t, I looked down and saw my leg contorted into an unrecognizable shape, suddenly, a vicious unbearable pain began to swell from my leg. With my last moment of consciousness, I was carried out and placed on a stretcher, as I passed out, a strong fear corrupted my mind as I laid limp and helpless.

I ended up with multiple fractured bones and my sister simply had a concussion. My cousin though, had the worst end of the stick, he got a concussion, multiple fractures and clean breaks, and lost lots of blood. Not only that, but he was also arrested and spent time in jail, to which after he was on probation. To me, it affected me in a psychological sense, it made me fear the idea of driving and alcohol, it almost took my sister away, and swirled up in the commotion also stood this enraged idea of hating my cousin. Driving under the influence of alcohol is never worth it, it can not only result in hurting you and innocents, but can also destroy families and hurt your loved ones.

It is extremely important for new and experienced drivers of all backgrounds to practice driver education and develop safe and beneficial habits that come with driving, as it creates a safe environment for drivers and anyone on the road. This also includes me, as eventually there comes a time where I must learn to drive, despite my fears.

The steps I must take to contribute to become a safe and better driver are to practice safe behaviors, such as refusal of driving under the influence and eliminating potential distractions as they can lead to fatal accidents. Not only that, but I must also be able to control my own vehicle, such as when it’s accelerating, turning, or breaking, use signals efficiently to let other drivers know what to do, and be able to read signs and lights correctly. But, for others, I must learn when to speak up when people begin to practice unsafe habits such as drinking, which I could’ve done with my cousin to prevent the car crash. Not only must you practice the safe practices, but you must also prevent others from practicing unsafe habits.