In the Driver’s Seat: Scholarship Essay

Drivers ed is very important for every driver to learn in order to ensure the safety of everyone on the road. Drivers ed teaches us the rules of driving, how to be safe while driving, as well as it teaches us that although driving grants us new freedoms, it also gives us the responsibility to do our part to remain safe on the road. Drivers ed is a step that is imperative to making sure that one understands the rules, the dangers, and the responsibility of driving.

The importance of drivers ed in reducing the number of accidents and deaths has been demonstrated through countless studies. For example, according to a study done at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, out of 151,800 teens who obtained a license, fifty-three percent had taken a state approved drivers ed course. To paraphrase, those who took the course were less likely to get a ticket or to get into any accidents as opposed to those who did not take the course. Although this is only one study, this clearly shows that taking a drivers ed course will improve the safety of driving as well as it will greatly reduce the number of deaths as a result of driving.

In order to reduce the number of deaths as a result of driving, I believe some form of drivers ed should be mandatory. It is often much more thorough to learn from an expert instructor than to learn from a parent or guardian. I also think that it is a good idea to make drivers ed a part of the high school curriculum to make it easily fit into teen’s schedules as it won’t be as much of a time commitment. This way there will not be any time constraint to the course, and every student who would like a license can have the opportunity to learn it in school. A defensive driving course cautious of not only what they themselves are doing, but what the cars around them are doing as well which will also improve overall road safety.

I, myself am a relatively new driver, although I am 18. The reason being is that I have grown up in the metro Atlanta area in which I have seen my fair share of accidents, aggressive drivers, and reckless driving in general, even in some family and friends. I have even been as close as a few feet away from a potential accident. Some steps that I have taken to ensure that I am a better and safer driver for myself and others is to enroll in drivers ed and defensive driving which are both extremely helpful for me as a new driver. The last thing I do is to not only drive for myself, but to drive for the other drivers on the road. We may all make mistakes, however, if we are all aware and cautious of our surroundings, more accidents can and will be avoided.