Building Better Habits

Building Better Habits

Driver’s education is immensely important in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving. Many high schools, including my own, do not provide mandatory driver’s education or do not have driving classes available. This is a problem, because without a streamlined driving education class, everyone picks up different driving habits. Expecting parents to teach their children to drive is not the smartest option; not all parents are stellar, or even safe, drivers. It is extremely helpful to be able to predict what other drivers on the road are going to do next, so having a regulated driver’s education program is the ideal solution.

In order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, people need to understand the necessity of being fully present and focused on the road. Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while driving is a common cause of accidents, as is texting while driving. My mom regularly uses the phone while driving, so she was not the best influence in that regard. I often remind her to keep both hands on the wheel when we are in the car together. Another simple step that must be taken is to always wear a seatbelt. Not wearing a seatbelt significantly increases the chance of dying in an accident and is absolutely not worth it. I have gotten made fun of for wearing my seatbelt when driving a short distance down the street or around the block, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Luckily, I have never been in a car accident myself, but earlier this year my mom’s car was totaled when another driver ran a stop light as she was making a left turn. She was injured and needed physical therapy, so even with insurance, she lost a substantial amount of money. She is still dealing with the physical and financial ramifications of the crash now, months later. It is frustrating that some people choose to continuously drive irresponsibly, without considering the negative impact it can have on themselves and others.

Personally, I am not great with navigation and have a habit of using the navigator app on my cell phone. Sometimes when I am unfamiliar with the area that I am in, I find myself focusing more on the phone than the road itself. This is a habit that I hope to break. Some steps I can take to fix it would be looking up my driving routes ahead of time, familiarizing myself with the area, and if necessary bringing a passenger with me to help navigate while I watch the road.

A step that I would like to see other drivers taking to be safer on the road is always using a blinker. As I said earlier, it is imperative to know what other drivers are doing, particularly when turns and lane shifts are involved. I frequently see people neglect to use their blinkers, and I have even had to abruptly slow down on the highway because of other drivers’ maneuvers that I was not expecting. The use of blinkers is something that would be taught in a real driver’s education class, but is sometimes not emphasized to a new driver if their parent doesn’t always use them either.

Not having access to a good driver’s education is a problem that could be contributing to the extremely high number of deaths due to driving in the country. Parents are not always the best teachers, especially if they condone their own bad driving habits. Driving can be scary, because you have to trust the other drivers on the road to make smart decisions. If we all evaluate our driving habits and take steps to improve, then hopefully we can start to reduce the frequency of deaths due to driving.