Drivers Ed or Driver Dead

Mason
Perkins

Driver
Education Initiative Award

In
the Driver’s Seat

Driver’s
Ed or Driver Dead

Driver
Education is probably the most important step in reducing driving
related deaths. Driver’s
Education is the first step many people take toward learning to drive
and often their first time behind the wheel. A proper drivers
education can prevent problems before they start. There are many good
habits that are taught in drivers ed that will help keep bad
habits from being formed. Not only is it important to develop good
driving practices, drivers ed has student practice with good
experienced drivers. Driving alongside an instructor that has
experience with all of the potential situations that may arise on the
road, students can learn about how to handle these situations safely.

There
are a million ways to reduced the number of driving related deaths,
some are more important than others. The number one step is to
completely eliminate the use of electronic devices while driving.
Phones and other electronics are extremely distracting. When drivers
are focused on the notification they just received, they don’t
see the brake lights in front of them. They don’t see the light
change from green to red, or the stop sign on the corner, or that
pedestrian that just stepped into the crosswalk. By increasing the
legal consequences of distracted driving and making “Do Not Disturb
While Driving” functions mandatory and always enabled, cell phones
will be less of a distracting to drivers.

I
have had many scary and potentially dangerous experiences while
driving or being driven by others. A few months ago, I was riding
with a friend down a street, that didn’t
have any stop signs. The cars on the cross streets had to stop and
wait if they wanted to cross or turn and join traffic. As we went
down this street, a car came down a cross street and did not stop at
the stop sign. This was in the middle of the day and there was
nothing blocking the view between the two cars. My friend had to
swerve into the other lane in order to keep from being t-boned.
Luckily, there were no cars coming in the opposite direction, but we
were so close to being badly hurt.

My
father was having issues with using his phone while he was at stop
lights and sometimes while he was driving. A step we took is that I
would take his phone from him whenever he picked it up. While this
isn’t
doable if you are by yourself, putting phones in the backseat, in a
closed compartment or somewhere else that you can’t see it or hear
it will help to eliminate the distraction. As a student, I’ve
picked up odd jobs and one of those jobs was to drive a neighborhood
kid to summer camp. When you have someone else’s kid in your car,
or pretend you do, you will drive much better because you are
responsible for that kid.