Unlocking the Road: Your Guide to Saving Lives and Driving Freedom

One of the biggest importances of driver education in reducing deaths as a result of driving is understanding the laws of the road. With or without any experience in driving, without a proper understanding of how the laws of the road apply to you and those around you could prove fatal. Even an incomplete understanding of the road laws could be dangerous. If one person knew who had the right of way at an intersection, but did not know about laws about pedestrians, that driver could believe that they held the right of way over a pedestrian beginning to cross the street and they could get into an accident, potentially injuring or killing the pedestrian. This is why having a proper education when it comes to driving a vehicle is very important, as it can help stop preventable deaths due to negligence of driver responsibility.

Multiple steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths while driving. One of the main ways to reduce deaths is to have a population of drivers who are educated and have a good understanding of how to drive and the laws of the road. This will help prevent accidental deaths due to lack of knowledge of how a vehicle operates or how the laws of the road work as stated in the previous paragraph. Another key point to reducing deaths, is to have a population of drivers that have experience behind the wheel, and aren’t starting the journey in driving on main roads right out of the gate. A good solution to this problem is behind the wheel driving courses offered by high schools or other driving schools located around the country that can provide lessons and teach new drivers how to properly and safely operate a motor vehicle. One factor in accidental death on the road is distracted driving. This can range from talking or texting, to drunk driving, or driving under the influence. All different forms of distracted driving are dangerous, and lead to large amounts of deaths each year, yet are all preventable. Teaching new drivers the dangers of distracted driving is a good way to help prevent these accidents, but not entirely effective, as some drivers don’t heed warnings or laws prohibiting phone usage while driving or driving under the influence. A way to fix this would be to heighten enforcement of these laws preventing distracted driving, and possibly increasing punishments for those found breaking these laws, as to encourage other drivers to drive safely and distraction free. There are various other ways to help prevent accidents and death on the road, but these are a few main ones that occur everyday that have somewhat simple solutions to their core issues.

I personally have never experienced being in a car accident, however on several occasions I have witnessed other members of my family drive while texting or distracted by some other external source. Some methods to make myself a better and safer driver is to see to it that all potential distractions are prevented before driving, such as muting cell phones, adjusting any mirrors, seats, air conditioning, radio, or other needs before starting to drive, and getting rid of any other potential distractions before setting out. Additional methods include choosing who to drive with. Other people in the car can potentially be a major distraction or cause you to drive dangerously, and choosing the right people to have in the car with you can help you to be a safer driver, and to avoid distractions from other people. Some methods that can help others drive safer on the road include encouraging others to drive distraction free, or helping them remove potential distractions if you are riding with them. Not being a distraction yourself by back-seat driving or messing with things in their car is also a way of helping others drive safely. Another big way of helping others drive safely is to not let other people drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If you are traveling with somebody, and they have consumed any alcoholic beverages or consumed any substances that could impair their ability to drive safely or to think clearly, don’t let them operate a vehicle. Instead, offer to drive for them, or to call somebody to pick them up, but don’t let that person operate the vehicle themselves, as it could put them and others on the road at risk. Driving drunk or under the influence of drugs can not only endanger the driver and their passengers, but also anyone else around them at risk of being involved in an accident should something happen, and preventing someone from driving under the influence is an easy and surefire way of preventing these accidents from happening.