Take Drivers Education

Driving is one of the most common privileges a citizen can be granted however, there are risk factors upon the individual’s actions, either due to age, status, negligent behavior, or driving under the influence. Overall the amount of deaths is still unacceptable in terms of the driver’s actions. The driver could have no idea of the consequences of these actions but it doesn’t change the fact that there are no consequences. This is where driver education falls under the safeties and benefits for new drivers. It is important to get a driver’s education before applying for an official license because it helps provide general background information about behind-the-wheel driving and introduces early exposure to being behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. As stated by the Massachusetts Government, they provides credibility upon the statement that driver education is “…to educate new drivers about the importance of understanding and effectively using vehicle components and to build routine habits necessary to being a safe driver.” This clarifies that the government approves and recommends education for new drivers, but the process is not easy.

Multiple steps are to be considered in pursuing this educational process, it consists of a series of instructions that a person must follow by a certified government driving instructor; it may also depend on the country/state the person is applying in. For example, the state of Texas requires upcoming drivers to “complete 44 hours of live, on-the-road driver training (referred to as behind-the-wheel or BTW training) in addition to the 32 hours of required classroom training under the observation of a qualified parent, legal guardian, or driving school…” on the other hand, a Massachusetts upcoming driver needs at least 40 hours of in-classroom instructions and 12 hours of on the road lessons with an official driving instructor. However, these are not required for individuals who are above the age of 18 which is commonly known in the United States. As a Massachusetts resident, the road test was a joke compared to other state’s road tests. There are better ways to have a lower chance of fatal collisions for anyone that are on the road behind-the-wheel driving rather than having a 5-minute test of three major maneuvers. One of the biggest suggestions that could occur is to have a mock exam for anyone who is applying for a license with multiple maneuvers for the best driving experience. This brings up the idea of how the United Kingdom where drivers must know how to: “Forward Bay Parking, Backwards Bay Parking, Parallel Parking, Pulling into the Right, and Emergency Stops.” With more maneuvers for any drivers to take part in, it helps show that these drivers know how to fully function in an operating vehicle without much difficulty. Though it may be only within that time and the moment, it can still make an impact on the world that the drivers know how to handle situations and unexpected moments like that.

Collisions can range in severity levels from a bump with slight damages to full-on collisions and deadly damages for anyone in the vehicle. Personally, there has never been an accident I have been in but, I know individuals who have died from a collision or were hospitalized due to the severity of damages. There is normally a lot of trust in family members when being in a vehicle. It doesn’t mean that they are driving responsibility. Driving responsibly is a big spectrum of different actions, one of the common ways to drive responsibly is to NOT text and drive. According to statistics, “distracted drivers constituted 8% of all deadly accidents, 14% of incidents resulting in injuries, and 13% of all motor vehicle crashes reported by the police in 2021.” Since the recent incident percentages are high, this causes a gradual amount of deaths in families. I recently almost lost a family member to a fatal accident, luckily they survived. It turned out that the other driver was distracted while being on their phone behind the wheel.

Although all these suggestions are public there are stuff that people in the car can do in the car themselves to prevent these collisions from happening. If anyone is on the phone, the passengers can remind the driver to put their phone away. However, if the driver is alone in the vehicle, they can allow a feature on their phone that puts their phone on do not disturb mode, which they would have to turn off manually through the app to get notifications from their phones.