Driver’s Education Initiative

As a seventeen-year-old girl, I have been a firsthand witness to numerous instances of driving under the influence and uneducated driving. The urgency of changing the culture surrounding teenagers and drunk drivers and the necessity of requiring a driver’s education class for new drivers before they obtain their licenses is pressing. We can significantly reduce roadway deaths and injuries with the support of officials and other adults in power, and the time to act is now.

Although many do not always have the resources, driver education is critical in reducing the number of deaths caused by driving. If young drivers were adequately educated on the confusing scenarios surrounding driving, the roads would become a much safer place. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my state eliminated driver’s tests to obtain a license due to the social distancing policies at that time. Seeing the number of young drivers obtaining a permit with a simple signed paper by their parents is nerve-wracking. There is no current way to know if they genuinely drove or know how to do so. Due to this new method, I propose that new drivers present proof that they took a driver’s education course and the other required documents needed to acquire a license. In this course, students learn the correct way to drive and how distracted driving and influenced driving impact, guilty drivers and victims. This is the only way to know if they have the right experience to operate a vehicle safely today.

Other steps could be implemented to make the roads safer for motorists through influenced driving. Although officials are making an impact on the amount of drunk drivers on the road today, there is still much to be done. I feel that we should change the culture surrounding drunk drivers and young people. My parents have personally lost people close to them from drunk driving or other drunk drivers on the road. Although they cannot control other kids, they have always told me I am safe to come to them if I need them in those cases. They want their oldest daughter home safe more than anything else. They will worry about the broken rules at a later date. This is the same for my friends. I believe that if all parents were like this and had this mindset, the number of young deaths on the roadway would decrease drastically. Kids are so concerned about getting in trouble that they will go to any length to make sure their parents do not know anything about their night. They even risk their lives and those of others on the road. Parents should worry about their child’s safety before punishing them for breaking a rule or a law. The trend of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol should become less and less as parents implement these new rules and morals in their homes. Mistakes happen, and peer pressure is a thing, but parents should worry about their children’s safety, not their image or record.

Because of my parent’s past experiences with influenced driving, they have become careful to guard my sister and me from those situations. They never put us in uncomfortable positions, even around their closest friends. However, as I have grown older, these circumstances have become more apparent at my high school and others in my area. Also, living in a small college town in a southern state, these casualties always rock the community. The use of alcohol and drug culture is also central to the college life in our city. It is the primary source of our town’s financial gain and is exploited and stretched thin time and time again. It is sad to see the kids and young adults walking the dark path of death and addiction on the roadway with their whole lives ahead of them while adults in power drain them in order to earn a disgusting buck. When will enough be enough?

Having personally taken driver’s education classes and spent time driving with my parents and other adults, I understand the importance of community involvement in reducing roadway casualties. As someone considered older for my grade, I have had the opportunity to help many friends navigate confusing situations on the road, preventing possible tragic accidents. I am committed to making our streets safe for families, elders, kids, etc. By implementing these new policies in our towns and cities, we can all play a significant role in changing the number of roadway casualties. Let us put a foot down on these problems and demand a stop to losing our friends in their sixteenth- birthday presents.