How Drivers Education is Beneficial to overcoming the risks of driving

Driving in the US has become a life or death situation for these past years, to the point where you can compare its death totals to some wars. It is reported that over 34,000 die each year from driving alone, which is more than the amount of American soldiers who died in the war in Iraq. This is such a drastic loss of people that it can be compared to the war in Iraq, which is indeed a problem. This mainly comes from the given driver being distracted, fatigued, or even texting while driving. This could also be a result of people not paying attention while learning how to drive. During drivers education, you thoroughly get taught the risks associated with driving.

Students are taught these important risks during Drivers Ed, which can highly benefit a young driver for knowing the things they should and shouldn’t do while driving, and in the long haul improves safety for young drivers and drivers in general. Steps that could be taken into account and considered to help this problem could be getting as much supervised and monitored practice as possible. While this could seem like a no brainer, I feel as if some people who get their license try and rush to learn rather than make sure they understand all of the basics and rules of being a competent driver. That alone can get in someone’s head, especially a young driver who just started. Drivers Ed requires at least 10 supervision hours along with evaluation from the supervisor. It would also help to reduce the amount of drugs or alcohol you consume before you start to drive. Driving under the influence is one of the major causes of car accidents, as about 31% of all fatal crashes in the US are caused by that alone. If under the influence, I’d recommend getting someone sober to drive or to just simply Uber.

I have been in a car crash before with my father, but it came more from the person we collided with driving irresponsibly. As we were going through the green light, a man was speeding through the intersection trying to get through before the light turned red. He not only ended up running the red light, but he also ended up running into my dad’s car, which I was also in. We even had witnesses who also exchanged words with the guy who ran into us, who was arguing that we went before the light changed. It turned out that the man was high and under the influence on marijuana, and was given a driving suspension for 3 months. That car crash was extremely dangerous and had an impact on my mental health for about 3 months. This is why I am very passionate about this topic. It took a toll on me for a bit and I was hesitant everytime I went into a car, watching every other car around me, making sure I wouldn’t relive what happened that day. Driver’s education for this reason is extremely important for people to take advantage of and to take seriously, as not only can reckless driving mess up someone’s mental health, but also their physical health and wellbeing.

Steps that we should all as a society and nation take to be better and safer drivers is to beware of each other’s surroundings. Paying close and deadlock attention to the road is what will mainly make that step work. Follow the traffic laws and stay aware of what is being presented to you, such as traffic lights, road signs, and speed limits. Another very helpful step could be to not depend on other drivers. I say and believe this because not everyone on the road is a smart or good driver. There’s even a chance someone that is driving close to you is inexperienced and probably doesn’t even have a license. Also not everyone follows the rules and could be a bad example on the road. Another thing to take into account is to use your technology wisely! Something that gets a lot of drivers distracted is their phones, which is a great cause of texting while driving. I would also suggest being patient. A lot of drivers tend to get antsy and lose their patience during such things like traffic and slow drivers. Be courteous to others on the road and keep at a steady pace as aggressive driving can lead to multiple accidents.

Overall, I feel as if driver’s education plays a big role on how a driver acts on the road. They give out a nice program that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Teaching you the basics and the reasons we should be safe on the road, and what to avoid to do while driving can play a huge factor into making driving safer.