Becoming A Better Driver Together

Becoming A Better Driver Together

Driver’s education and the number of deaths in vehicles are inversely proportional. With increased driver’s education there is in effect fewer deaths in vehicles. Sadly, at least from my own experience Driver’s Education courses are super outdated and underfunded. The same lackluster exam is given every year and VHS tapes from before I was born only begin to describe the current scenario of Driver’s Education courses. With such a vital tool at preventing deaths across the world, one would think that they would be of better quality. This is why the amount of deaths by vehicles has not gone down. This leads to steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving.

Despite the obvious of just learning more about precautions of driving a vehicle, many steps can be taken to actively decrease the amount of death’s and it comes down to the person taking action. I know many of my friends and relatives who have gotten into accidents and some of them have died. I once had a cousin named Andrew. He was around sixteen years old and driving with my aunt on the highway. They were behind a lumber truck when suddenly pieces of lumber fell loose and broke through the windshield and crushed him. My middle name is Andrew, in honor of his name. This tragedy, although personal to me, is not an uncommon thing. Millions of Americans have experienced injury, death or lost someone they know in their life to a vehicle.

These precautionary steps are essential to subdue this alarming fact. The first involves driving more. Practice makes perfect–there is certainly no exception for driving. It allows you to understand all the important rules and laws of driving that are meant to keep everyone safe. Not only that but it also lets you determine where you might be lacking in driver safety. But this is not all. Step two, which I consider the pinnacle of driver safety, involves looking beyond the windshield and considering how unsafe driving could affect others. There are always going to be selfish drivers on the road who practice dangerous driving but do not let them stray from your perspective of a safe driver. Consider that a dangerous driver has a life and a family. Similarly for every other driver that you might encounter on the road. It is important to keep this outlook. Sometimes I find that my family is getting lazy with these steps. When driving it can be easy to forget these steps. Overwhelmed by signs, lights, directions, and other drivers that it can be difficult to manage. I think following these steps, myself and every other driver can learn to be safer. Not just for the current drivers, but people like Andrew’s sake. Those whose lives have been lost due to something that could have been prevented. Let’s stop the increase of vehicle deaths. Together.