Riley Vanderzanden– Driver’s Ed Saves Lives!

Close your eyes, imagine red and blue lights flashing as sirens scream, your heart has begun to pound in your chest. You can vividly see your teen sitting on the side of the road shaking with fear and next to them their first car flipped upside down and totaled. The most terrifying call a parent could receive is hearing the heartbreaking news that their child has been in an accident. Fortunately, with the help of driver’s education we can reduce deaths caused by driving so parents can feel more confident with their children driving.

A study done by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found that teens who did not take driver’s education were 75 percent more likely to receive a traffic ticket as well as 24 percent more likely to be in an accident. By having young drivers complete driver’s education they can already use their safe drivers skills by being nearly a quarter less likely to get into an accident on the road. While the road is never a guaranteed safe place, driver’s ed can immediately increase a young driver’s chances at safety on the road.

The first step taken to reduce the number of deaths caused by driving should be encouraging driver’s education. Parents should have their kids take driver’s education so the child has an opportunity to learn more in depth about the dangers of the road and how to avoid accidents; and parents will also receive a feeling of safety or relief with their kids taking driver’s education. The next step that should be taken to reduce deaths on the road is encouraging and enforcing safe driving. Teens are known to live on the edge and act impulsively which may be irresponsible. Personally, I think parents should have cameras in their kids’ cars. This will ensure parents can check the teen is driving safe and will serve as evidence if the teen is in an accident that was not their fault. Another good idea as a parent is to track your child’s speed on apps like Life360, by doing this you will be notified if your child is driving irresponsibly.

I have been lucky thus far in life, I have not been in an accident (while I have been driving) nor received any tickets. Unfortunately, I have many stories of driving incidents. My sister and I were in the car driving home. She tended to drive too fast because we live outside of town and she was very comfortable with the road. However, around winding roads she didn’t see a deer because we were going fast and listening to music. Next thing I knew we were on the side of the road with fur covering the grill of the car. The hood of the car was damaged and the deer was in a ditch. It was her very first accident so we were both extremely shaken and in disbelief. Another accident was my dad driving but this accident was far worse. My dad was driving home from work and he saw a car driving straight into his lane. He quickly drove into the ditch to avoid being hit and the car behind him followed him blindly because the car behind him had no idea what was happening. Unfortunately the third car was hit head on and was fatal. The driver heading into oncoming traffic had a medical emergency and was unconscious at the wheel. My dad was able to avoid the situation but the third car didn’t have time to react and didn’t make it out. This incident was probably inevitable because you can not avoid a medical emergency but my sister could have avoided her accident.

To keep the road safe for ourselves and others we need to be smart on the road. It is the law to always wear a seatbelt while driving and that law should be enforced more. Another rule is to never drive while impaired, not only does this include being under the influence of drugs or alcohol but also if you are just not feeling well. For example, if I was too tired or sick to drive I should not drive because I am not fully aware of the road. We should also put more restrictions on speeding. There is never a reason to speed whether you are late to work or trying to beat rush hour, speeding can put your life in jeopardy.

Driver’s education can teach young drivers many ways to be a safer driver on the road and how to handle unexpected situations. I am thankful for driver’s education because I was able to feel more confident in my driving and learn the rules of the road even my parents could not teach me.