Driving Towards Safety: The Importance of Driver Education

Like most teenagers, I am a licensed driver. I attended all the classes, did my required drive time, and passed the test. However, does this really prepare an adolescent for the responsibility of being behind the wheel? Now more than ever we are facing a cell phone epidemic that without a doubt has found its way into drivers behind the wheel and been a factor in fatal accidents. Many other factors are simply inexperienced drivers, speeding, drowsy driving, impaired driving, and distracted driving.

So, what is the importance of driver education in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving? Driver Education is one of the first steps for someone who wants to obtain their license but why is it important? Well, to begin it teaches you the basics of how to operate and comfortably drive a car. It also teaches you what traffic signals mean, how to lane change, being aware of blind spots, etc. It also educates you on defensive driving, basic traffic laws, risk awareness, and management, and it has been proven to reduce young driver fatalities. Without Driver’s Education, how would one know the basics of safe driving? These were put in place to keep drivers on the road safe and knowledgeable about their responsibility as a driver. With that, Drivers Education is extremely important for reducing the deaths as a result of driving.

So, what steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving? Well first and most obvious is to improve education. Times have changed and Driver Education should as well better prepare today’s drivers for the challenges on the road and in the car. It shouldn’t end there either. Driver Education should be continuous with Driver’s having a “refresh” course every year. Another step that can be taken is stronger enforcement of the law. In big cities or anywhere impaired driving is an issue there should be a sobriety checkpoint. Another step that can be taken is slowly easing young drivers into the challenges of driving. They should have a driving lesson at night to teach them how to be aware. They should also be taught how to defensively drive in common accident situations. We cannot directly reduce the number of deaths related to driving but we can be proactive and give individuals proper steps to promote an outcome of reduced deaths.

In my personal experience, I have only been in one accident and in that situation, I was a passenger. I was too young to understand that rear-ending someone at 70 miles per hour wasn’t just an “accident”. Looking back at it now I can confidently say that distracted driving was undeniably the reason for the accident. Unfortunately, it has become so common. From seeing family members, friends, and influencers practice distracted driving it’s only a matter of time before they don’t look up fast enough and don’t reach the break quick enough. It’s a very scary thing to consider but it has become so common that awareness needs to become a priority for adults and teenagers to show the dangers and outcomes of distracted driving.

As a driver myself some steps I can take to be a safer driver is keeping myself accountable. Whenever I start to zone out I can easily bring myself back to the awareness it’s a choice. Another example is checking my phone. I can hold myself accountable by hearing the “buzz” but choosing not to take a glance down. Another step that can be taken is having a mutual understanding with passengers in the car that distractions are dangerous. For me personally, I carpool my siblings a lot and they struggle with this. However, I make sure that it is clear and we have a mutual understanding that we want to minimize distraction to promote a safe arrival at our destination. These are some simple first steps that I believe I could easily put into my everyday driving.

Promoting others to practice safe driving is hard, especially as a passenger. Whether it is a friend or family member it’s awkward to call them out on their driving errors or safety risks. However, something I have to take into consideration is if they are willing to do it in front of you what do they do when they’re alone? I won’t let them be the reason I get a phone call no one ever wants to receive because I can prevent it! Something I do is just make it funny or light when I ask them to stop texting, dozing, eating, you name it while driving. When I’m feeling less confrontational something I can do is simply post awareness on social media. It doesn’t have to be a full post but every once in and awhile I post something on my story about the risks and importance of safe driving.

Being a safe driver is the first step in stopping driving-related fatalities. Though accidents will still occur the goal is to reduce the number of individuals that have life-ending accidents. We are the change and we can take steps to make a difference on the road.