The Importance of Driving Education

Driving comes with many responsibilities. Some people may think that you can just get in the car and go, but that is not the case. As soon as you turn on a car, your life as well as other lives are at risk. It is vital that everyone learns the importance of safe driving. Driving is not to be underestimated nor taken as a joke. In fact, so many people die from car accidents a year that it may seem unreal.

Driver’s Education can help reduce the number of accidents a year drastically. As I became older, I learned that driver’s education programs were something that was not necessarily mandatory. I, in fact, did not even know that my high school offered it. During that time, I had also learned that the only time it was mandatory for someone to complete a driving education class was if demanded by a judge or just to get their license back.

Driver’s education should be required to be taken before getting your license and/or before obtaining your permit. I feel as though this could implement healthy driving habits early on. People need to know the risk factors, safety precautions, and tools of driving. The more knowledge one has of safe driving, the more safer the road becomes.

Anyone that is behind a wheel should also know what is accepted and not accepted on the road. For example, a vehicle with your turn signals not working is unacceptable. However, there was an incident where I was driving, and my intentions was to pass the car that was in front of me. The road had those dashed yellow lines which means passing is permitted. As I was passing the vehicle in front of me, the driver decides to turn, and he rammed into the back of my car causing the piece under my trunk to fall and my car to swerve badly.

After speaking to the driver that hits me, he states that he had his signal on to turn and that I was in the wrong for trying to pass while he was turning. I stated that I didn’t see his turn signal light on. After speaking to the police who arrived on the scene, it turns out that the driver had broken signal lights, his break lights were out, and he had no insurance.

In this case, this was a preventable accident. It could have been avoided. But see there are also those fatal car accidents. For instance, my brother was leaving for drill early one morning. The road was a bit slippery from a freeze we had that night. The investigator believes that he had to have been speeding or he had some sort of car trouble. Somehow, he ended up on the side of a bridge and his truck caught on fire. They had stated that the truck blew up in flames. He was not able to make it out of the truck in time and he lost his life. We live in the country, so it took help a while to arrive. But when they did, he was pronounced deceased on the scene. The fire was so bad that they were unable to recognize him. The only way that they were able to identify him was by doing research on the trucks VIN number and the tag on the truck.

When I tell people my brother’s story, I tell them to just think about the family you could possibly leave behind. My brother left behind two little boys and a little girl and I feel for them every single day. It hurts and it is one of the worst pains that you could ever feel.

I have a 17 year old brother who is so eager to get his own car. I tell him often that driving isn’t a luxury. Driving isn’t something that’s just cool to do. Driving is a privilege and it is not to be taken for granted. You can’t just get behind a wheel and let your seat back, play loud music and think that you’re cool. That is not how it works.

Additionally, driving isn’t to be taken lightly. It doesn’t take much to take up a driver’s education class. It doesn’t take much to put forth that effort to make sure that you know the ends and outs of what comes with maneuvering a vehicle on the road. I used to think that having my license was an accomplishment. But now, I drive more cautious than I ever have before.

I can’t count how many times I drive and see accidents that were preventable. One of the main goals of driver’s education is to teach people the proper way of operating a vehicle. It’ll teach people how to have smart and effective decision making when driving. Driver’s education could help identify bad driving habits and train the driver the right way. It could also reveal the dangers of those bad driving habits.

In conclusion, I hope that someone takes something from my essay. Driver’s Education is one way to make our world a safer and better place. So many lives have been lost. We need to prevent unnecessary tragedy and pain in this world. And driver’s education classes are a great way to start.