Driving Toward Safety: The Role of Education, Policy, and Personal Responsibility on Texas Roads

Driver Education Initiative Award Application

In the past, road safety was often disregarded within the world. Unsafe streets, no seatbelts, and even the lack of rules such as drinking and driving all created an unsafe environment for drivers in the early days of transportation. In present times, people still don’t wear seatbelts, people still drive distracted and thousands still drink and drive. This is the largest cause of death within teenagers: the lack of driving education and carelessness behind the wheel.

Driving tests, permits, and the DMV can all seem as a burden and unnecessary upon the naked eye of new drivers, however many disregard the benefits of driving exams and drivers education, especially among teenagers. It comes with obvious examples. You are on a two lane road going both directions. The person driving towards you has never taken a day of drivers education, and it’s their first time behind the wheel. The average person would feel unsafe knowing this about the other driver and start to understand the common sense purpose of drivers education. The simplicity of learning the basics of driving, and the emphasis on rules such as no distractions and sobriety can help infinitely decrease the number of deaths among drivers. Drivers education teaches defensive driving, traffic law obedience, and the understanding that driving can be unsafe. The understanding of these basic rules and laws, especially among the youth, can help create a new generation of safe drivers all around the country. With safe drivers comes safer roads, therefore leading to less accidents.

Almost all car accidents are preventable. The main measure to avoid them comes with the responsibilities of the drivers. One must always practice defensive driving no matter what the situation is to avoid any sort of incidents from occurring. This, amongst following the laws and firmer punishments for unsafe driving can improve road safety for everyone. Recently, the State of Texas Department of Transportation enacted the SafeDRIVE Enforcement Program to help adhere to reckless driving, impaired driving, and distracted driving. Initiatives like these can help greatly improve the roadway.

Personally, I myself have been involved in a car accident. Only a few months ago, at about 10 PM I was leaving work, tired and excited to go home. Preparing to cross the main road that was empty at this time, I failed to stop at the intersection in the middle when crossing the street. Out of nowhere, I heard loud noises and suddenly, I found myself in my passenger seat. Every airbag had deployed leaving smoke and dust everywhere around me. My ears rang as I stepped out of the vehicle, on the verge of unconsciousness. I was hit on the front right side of my vehicle by a car going about 55 miles per hour with their headlights off. Both vehicles were on opposite sides of the road. Glass and metal were everywhere glistening in the dark, looming night. In this moment, I slowly began to realize the impact of what had happened. I walked over to the other vehicle to make sure the others were okay. We were all very shaken by what had just occurred. In a flash everything happened, but it felt like moving slowly through water. The smells, sounds and sights of that night will forever be on my mind. Shortly thereafter, the police and paramedics arrived, and thankfully no one was hurt. I watched sadly as the car I got gifted from my parents was being towed away completely totaled.

I received a ticket from the police for failure to yield, and was required to take a defensive driving class. An accident like this one can greatly affect not only the drivers, but their families as well. It was very disheartening to call my parents that night. Although they rushed to support me, the look of worry and fear in their faces will forever be etched in my memory. Throughout the following days and weeks, my perspective shifted dramatically. I fully understood the great responsibility of being behind the wheel, always remembering the impact an accident can have on so many. Ever since that day, I have made sure to drive extremely cautiously, and make sure I do everything correctly when I am behind the wheel.

This accident could’ve been avoided if both parties understood the importance of full attention behind the wheel. This alone encouraged me to be more understanding of the purpose of defensive driving and drivers education, however I am disappointed it took something as serious as a car accident to fully grasp this concept. I’m certain it is the same way for other drivers as well. It is important to understand the potential consequences, before figuring it out the hard way.