The Importance of Drivers Ed

The
Importance of Drivers ed

Jaden Findley

Honestly, I don’t
know what I’m doing. I’ve spent more time in the back seat
playing video games, watching movies and looking at hand held devices
than I can even mention. What, you’re giving me keys to a 2 ton
piece of metal that routinely goes 50 miles per hour? What do I do
and how can you prepare me for this huge responsibility?

Driving a car and
taking on this responsibility that could result in the death or
severe injury of me, a loved one or a total stranger is a task that I
don’t take lightly. I know that as a young man I am expected to
drive irresponsibly. That’s what the statistics say. I have spent
time in a drivers ed class, spent time behind the wheel
with an instructor and countless hours driving with my parents. I
refuse to become another statistic. I feel that I am prepared and
understand the consequences of reckless behavior behind the wheel and
therefore I won’t be irresponsible. The key to reducing vehicle
accidents is education, vigilance, consequences and empathy. Often
times drivers don’t understand the reasons behind the rules of the
road, they are not advocates for safety, they don’t suffer
consequences until it is too late, and they are selfish and don’t
put themselves in the other driver’s seat.

So how would
education reduce vehicular related deaths? The more you know and are
required during the course has an influence on your behavior and the
more difficult the test, the more drivers’ would appreciate the
privilege of driving. Since having a driver’s license is not a
right, and the death rate seems to be proportional to the driver’s
ages, one step to reduce deaths is to require more frequently
administered tests to retain their licenses for those under 30.
Additionally, tickets and fines could be slightly higher for those
within that age group for moving violations to connect harsher
consequences. This would encourage responsible driving amongst this
category of drivers.

When I was around
2 years old, my mom was driving us to church and we were struck
directly on our side by a driver that ran a light. The other car hit
our front passenger door on the side that I was on and fortunately
for me, I was in my car seat in the back. If we had gone through
that intersection a half second later, it would have hit me directly.
I was blessed to come out of that without a scratch, but this
happened to one of my mom’s friends and he was paralyzed. I think
about my blessings

What can I do to
be a better driver? Well the most important thing is to follow the
rules, drive defensively and never, ever let distractions including
my phone, get in the way of my ability to focus on the road. I have
dreams of being an engineer and