Driver Safety

Driver education is so important for both new drivers and “experienced” drivers. This is because people who drive cars may not know anything about them, then get behind the wheel, and potentially cause an accident. This can cause injuries to not only the person driving, but also others driving around them. Having driver education can promote responsibility, and safer driving practices. Some responsibilities of a safe driver are caring for your passengers and the people around you. Having safer driving practices include wearing a seatbelt, being aware of your surroundings, using proper etiquette while driving, like using turning signals, following all traffic laws, following the proper speed limit, and even parking properly. Having safer driving practices leads to being less distracted while driving, which in return, causes less accidents.

Some steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is to bring back drivers’ education into schools. Recently, this class was taken out of schools to bring in other elective classes for other opportunities. Driving education should take priority over most classes, because it teaches using real examples, and real-world problems. It has taught students how to be responsible behind the wheel, and how to fix problems in their future car, for instance, a flat tire. Another step that could possibly be taken is Prom-Promise. Prom-Promise was brought into schools to show what could happen if a student would get behind the wheel while being under the influence of alcohol. Since Covid began, some schools have stopped doing their Prom-Promise, and I feel that without it, it would show students that it’s okay to drive under the influence without any consequences.

I personally have not been in a vehicular accident, but some of my family members have. For example, my father was in a T-bone accident quite a few years ago on his way back home from a work conference, completely totaling his car at the time. Luckily, there was an emergency room nurse and a first responder driving right behind him, so he received the immediate care that he needed. During the moment of the accident, he was not injured, but he soon realized that the accident did affect him, and he needed to have extensive surgery on his shoulder, repairing tendons and reattaching muscles. The person who had crashed into my father drove over an emergency crossover lane, illegally hitting my father and sending him into the air and into the median barrier. At the time, I was very young and couldn’t understand what was happening to him, and why it happened, but now that I am older, I have realized that the person who had hit my father was not paying any attention to the drivers around them. From this experience, I have learned that I need to obey all traffic laws and always pay attention to my surroundings, so I do not end up in an almost fatal accident like my father did.

There are so many steps that I can take to become a safer driver and passenger on the roads. Some are as simple as educating my passengers to always wear their seatbelts, even if they are just going down the block. Defensive driving is another technique that can be learned. Driving defensively is very important because other drivers on the road may not be paying any sort of attention to their surroundings and possibly get into an accident. It is my job as the driver to protect my passengers by moving out of the way of the accident in time so that not only am I not injured, but my passengers aren’t as well. Along with defensive driving is the ability to pay attention to the roads. Being on your phone, listening to loud music, or eating, can be very distracting to both the driver and the passengers of the car. This can lead to vehicle accidents, which can also be very fatal. To keep myself from getting distracted, I like to keep my phone somewhere where I can not see it while driving, so I do not get distracted by it. If I do happen to get food while on the road, I will either eat it before driving to my next destination, or I will wait until I am done driving to eat. Finally, I either like to drive in complete silence, or my music is very low, so that I can concentrate on the road and the road only. To become a safer driver, everyone needs to have driver etiquette. Something as simple as turning on turn signals, or not waiting until the very last moment to stop can decrease accidents. Having driving etiquette helps others on the road know what your next move is. Stopping too quickly leads to car accidents because the person behind said driver did not give enough time to the person behind, he or she, to stop.