Driving Safety

When I was ten and my sister, Olivia, was fifteen, she decided to sneak us out to drive us to Subway in her teal Fiat 500 convertible, even though she didn’t have her license yet. At first, I went with her because I was worried something would go wrong, but as we were driving, I told myself I was too anxious and to stop worrying. I was wrong to not be worried. Instead of Olivia paying attention to the car in front of her, that didn’t have it’s turn signal on, my sister was trying to put up the top we had previously put down on her car. Olivia ended up rear ending the truck in front of us. Because the light was green, we Olivia had to keep driving as to not hold up traffic, she decided to turn at the light and pull into the parking lot there. The men we crashed into didn’t seem to understand this, however. These two adult men chased after us, cussing us out for the fear of us committing a hit and run. We had ended up pulling into the driveway and explaining the situation, and even though it was a minor accident, the fear I had felt at the time was traumatic. The terror I felt at the prospect of being in an “adult situation” without my parents at the time was unmatched to any remotely negative feeling I had in my life up to that point, and it could’ve all been avoided if my sister had practiced safe driving skills.

Driving is one of the most dangerous things a person can do. Many people treat driving like an everyday, mundane task, but the decisions one makes while driving can impact a person for life. Driving education is important because it makes people more cognizant on the road and understand what to do in high pressure situations. Driving education should also be improved on to become more well-rounded.

Driving education makes driver’s more cognizant because it shows them how alert they need to be on the road. A driver needs to be aware of what is happening all around their car, and driver’s that are not aware of this fact are more likely to be distracted while driving. In driver’s ed, and further driver’s ed programs, the importance of awareness is emphasized, and shows that no distraction, whether it be a call, text, song choice, etc., is worth it.

Driving education also helps people understand what to do in high pressure situations on the road. As a driver, I know how quickly conditions change on the road, especially when going highway speeds. There are many dangerous situations that are easy to get into and difficult to get out of like hydroplaning, skidding, avoiding an object at a high speed, etc. Driver’s ed and voluntary programs help with this because it shows you what to do in these situations. When a driver knows how to deal with these high adrenaline situations, they can avoid putting incorrect inputs in their car, and save their life as well as other driver’s lives.

So how should state governments ensure that their driver’s ed is not only accessible to everyone, but up to par on their curriculum as well? I believe each state’s driver’s ed should be a healthy mix between teaching new drivers the basics and further expanding the basics into unique driving conditions they may encounter. As someone who took Texas’ driver’s ed course, and a day program on driving safety, I can advocate about how each has made me a better driver. The general driver’s ed course taught me the basics of the road, and the drive times required helped me put them into practice. The day program I took helped me learn about the actual forces that go into my car when driving in different situations, and put them into practice by setting up autocross exercises for participants to drive through. State governments should try to create a program that shows students the physics behind what is happening on the road, and how that should affect your driving, as well as the driving basics that are already taught, to create a fully rounded education.

Overall, I think it should be a requirement to take driver’s ed to get your license, so the US has more aware and knowledgeable driver’s. Additionally, state driver’s ed programs should be expanded on to replicate other or a separate program like that should be mandatory.