Education for Responsible Drivers

In January of this year, I saw one of my best friends say goodbye to someone as close to her as a brother. She posted this heart throbbing story on Instagram, showing how important he was to her. It was devastating. At the time I did not know how he died, and I did not want to ask because I knew she was going through a very hard time. A couple weeks later, there was a news story about two guys who were speeding down a 40 MPH road, lost control of the car, and ultimately lost their lives. Because of their reckless driving and bad decisions, my friend lost someone she held dear to her heart and his death devastated many close to him.

According to bestdiplomats.org, the United States has one of the highest car crash rates in the world, and I believe one of the reasons is the lack of strict testing and renewal requirements. Preventing people’s poor decisions is not one hundred percent possible, it is their choice, and we cannot control them. However, giving all we can to educate drivers is the best we can do and what we should do. Driver education may be the difference between life and death.

Every state has slightly different driver’s license requirements, but there are improvements we can make to all of them. We could do multiple things to make driving safer, not just through road tests, but also online through classes that can teach the repercussions of careless driving. For example, I was raised in Georgia where there is a Joshua’s law which requires stricter rules you must achieve before even taking the driving test. If we had more of these videos and lessons, it could give people a better idea and visualization of the real impacts of dangerous driving. I personally think these lessons and videos should not only be taken when retrieving your license but also relearned every couple of years to keep it fresh in mind.

The other way I feel we can reduce fatalities is by making the driving tests more difficult. Some countries, such as Croatia and Finland, make their tests so difficult that it feels like jumping through hoops. The benefit is that they do reduce the amount of crashes. I feel as if in Georgia, especially after COVID, the drivers’ license tests did not fully prepare me for driving. For example, my road test took about a total of ten minutes. My road test was virtual, so the instructor was not in the car with me to get a full understanding of my driving ability. After completing two parking requirements, the instructor placed a camera in my car and then called my mom who was in the passenger’s seat. She gave directions over the phone for the road portion which consisted of me making four right turns, the easiest turns for driving. It did not test all aspects of my driving, and I feel that this method ended up giving unsafe drivers their licenses.

I have personally been in two car accidents before, only one of which I was the driver. Fortunately, in both instances, everyone was safe and uninjured. The first car accident I had was one of the scariest moments of my life. This happened to be an unfortunate event as it had just started raining. We felt our tires slipping a couple of times, and were being conscious because something felt off, then finally the tires hit standing water, slipped, and we hydroplaned. While uninjured, we did end up hitting a tree and this incident keeps me warry every time I drive, especially in the rain.

The other car crash was due to irresponsible driving. My friend and I were driving from school to practice and were stopping at a light. While there was lots of traffic, and it was a stop go stop situation, another student hit us from behind. I cannot say what was going on with the driver behind me: maybe she was distracted because we were not driving fast, and she was not focused or maybe she just was too close behind me and her reaction time was off. Either way, it was a result of irresponsible driving and could have one hundred percent have been prevented.

These accidents have made me take a few preventative steps while driving. In addition to concentrating on what I learned during my driver’s education, I keep my phone in a holder so I cannot hold it. This automatically helps me stay focused and keeps everything hands free. But that does not always prevent people from going on their phones, so I went one step farther. I keep all my messages from all my apps locked so I cannot read them or attempt to while on the road. It keeps me focused and not worrying about reading and/or texting while driving. Another thing I do to stay alert, which may seem a bit odd, is blasting cool air on me. This helps with my car sickness, and it also keeps me fully awake and focused on my driving. If we all work together, we can make the roads a safer place for everyone.