The Vital Role of Education in Preventing Fatalities

I have always been a cautious person, and from a young age, I knew how dangerous driving can be. When I was younger, my neighbor died in a car accident, right around the corner from my house. When I got older, I was terrified to get my license, terrified I would get into a crash and die. I spent hours going through the driver’s training videos, learning absolutely everything I could. I was prepared to take the written test, that was the easy part. When it came to the actual driving, I was very nervous, but got more comfortable with driving the more I did it. I spent hours driving with my parents so that I could get everything down and be absolutely prepared for anything during my driver’s test. When I got to the test, we went off to drive, and 5 minutes later we were back at the DMV and the instructor gave me my passed test. I was confused, was that really it, I spent so many hours driving and getting prepared, and all we did was turn around one block.

I took my driver’s test amid the COVID-19 pandemic, where the driver’s tests were shorter to prevent the instructors or students from getting sick. However, this made the driver’s tests very easy, and people passed when they probably shouldn’t have. I hear stories from my friends about how their driver’s tests were “so easy” and how they “never even studied” and that scares me. Without the proper testing, people are getting their driver’s licenses without actually knowing how to drive. Now that I have had my license for a few years, I have noticed the change in drivers on the road. Now that younger people are taking these nonthorough driver tests, the road seems considerably vicious. I understand that there is a learning curve when it comes to driving, which can be very dangerous. I accidentally hit a car while trying to park in a spot that was just too tight for my car to fit. My sister accidentally ran a red light when distracted by the dog in her backseat. However, the point of getting so many practice driving hours before the test is to get over this learning curve before the test so that we can all be safe while driving.

The point of driver education is to prevent the number of deaths on the road, otherwise, 13-year-olds would be driving themselves wherever they wanted. Driver education is just that, educating young adults on how to drive safely, not being a means to hand out driver’s licenses to anyone of age. Driver tests can be more thorough during the actual driving portion of the test, rather than relying on the written portion as enough. They could also simulate certain situations that we see on the road every day like people running stopsigns and cutting you off. This would prepare these young drivers for the real-world situations that happen when driving and could improve their reflexes when it comes to dangerous situations.

When learning how to drive, being a defensive driver is a big point they want students to learn, and while they might learn that, not everyone listens to it. I have seen much more aggressive drivers than defensive drivers and most of the time it is the aggressive driver’s fault for a crash. Some students might not believe that driving is that dangerous because they don’t have any examples of dangerous driving. Drivers ed should show examples of the consequences of driving aggressively, this could show students how important it is to drive safely. Young drivers aren’t the only problem, older drivers can also cause accidents. After driving for so many years, it becomes routine and mundane, which can lead to not paying much attention to the road because they’ve driven so many times. However, this can be a problem because they won’t react as quickly as when they are paying attention, which can lead to a crash. Re-testing every once in a while can fix this problem as it keeps experienced drivers up-to-date on the dangers of the road.

Driving is very dangerous, learning how to drive can be scary, but it is the most important part of driving safely. Driver tests today are not as thorough as they were before the pandemic, which is leading to drivers who are just not ready to drive yet. Driver ed exists to teach students how to be safe drivers, and they have slipped from their purpose. Learning how to be a defensive driver is important, but not everyone listens to this lesson. Drivers both young and old must learn how to be safe and defensive drivers in order to reduce the amount of deaths related to driving.