Safe Driving Saves Lives – Alayna Smith

Alayna
Smith

Safe
Driving Saves Lives

Learning
to drive and getting a driver’s license is one of the most
impactful, exciting moments of a teen’s life. They get to have the
first taste of freedom and adulthood. They can depend on themselves
instead of someone else to go places. And, what I believe is most
important, they get to go out with their friends and have fun.
However, driving comes at a cost. Many teens each year are involved
in fatal or near-fatal accidents and get traffic tickets that could
suspend their license or cause their car insurance cost to skyrocket.
That’s where drivers ed courses come in to teach new
drivers how to safely navigate the roads so they can continue to go
out with friends and enjoy being a teen.

A
new study that followed over 150,000 teen drivers over eight years
has found that drivers ed significantly reduces crashes and
traffic violations among new drivers. Drivers ed has
significantly reduced the number of car crashes and traffic
violations (Reed). A study involving over 150,000 teen drivers has
shown that teens and new drivers who take part in drivers ed
display calmer and more responsible driving tendencies. This study
has also shown that teens who do not take drivers ed are 75
percent more likely to be pulled over for a traffic violation (Reed).
They are 24 percent more likely to cause a fatal car collision and 16
percent more likely to be involved in a nonfatal accident. Another
study conducted by Duane Shell and Ian Newman of the Nebraska
Prevention Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln involved the driving records of 151,800 teens who
got a driving permit. 53 percent of these teens took driver’s
education and the remaining 47 percent drove 50 hours with the
supervision of a legal guardian or adult. The results conclude that
the teens who attended drivers ed had significantly fewer
accidents than those who did not take the course. They also received
a fewer number of tickets for traffic violations. A similar trend was
seen when the researchers studied alcohol-related crashes and
violations. This shows how important drivers ed is for young
adults. Since teens aged 16-18 are at a higher risk for accidents,
having a program that can teach responsibly driving skills is
critical to prevent fatalities.

Taking
a drivers ed course isn’t the only way teens can become
safer when on the roads. Even though safety courses teach responsible
tendencies, it cannot enforce those tendencies. Texting while driving
is the most common cause of distracted driving related accidents. 9
out of 10 times, the texting conversation is not so important that a
teen should respond while driving. If you must answer an important
text, the best thing to do would be to pull over into a parking lot
or onto the side of the road. And while texting at a stoplight is not
the safest option, it is still safer than texting while trying to
maneuver through traffic. Another way teens can actively reduce the
risk of accidents is to anticipate the actions of other drivers. Have
you ever been stopped at a 4-way intersection with stop signs and was
unsure if the driver to your right was about to cross? Have you ever
been startled because another driver suddenly switched lanes with no
signal? That’s where anticipating driver’s actions is important.
Though you may not have known if that driver was about to cross the
4-way, making eye contact and using hand signals with the driver
could clear things up. By hand signals, I mean pointing or waving
your hand toward where you intend to go. This usually will let you
and the other driver decide who is crossing the street first. Using
blinkers is also helpful. And if a driver gets close to your lane or
gets behind a slower car, they most likely want to switch lanes.
Always use your blinker a few seconds before you switch to let
drivers behind you know.

While
this aspect is less talked about, driving in the right mental state
is also very important. Don’t drive while angry as your anger would
reflect in how you act in mildly annoying situations like heavy
traffic or someone cutting you off. Driving while crying is also
dangerous as your vision is limited. Both emotions make driving more
dangerous as the rational side of your brain is overpowered by your
emotions, causing you to act differently, if not recklessly, compared
to how you would act if you were calm.

I
have experienced irresponsible driving tendencies and near accidents
from my friends driving recklessly from texting and driving to
becoming distracted by passengers. While these incidents did not end
in accidents, they could end up that way if my friends repeat these
dangerous actions. If your friends or family member is driving
irresponsibly, it is important to ask them to stop and pay attention
to the road. Now, while this may not work all the time, it is
nevertheless important to make an attempt by asking. As for
myself, I could become more knowledgeable about driving skills. I
could learn what to do in specific situations and practice safe
driving habits regularly because, after all, learning doesn’t
stop when you get your license.

Works
Cited

“Study:
Drivers Ed Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets.” Study:
Drivers Ed Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets | News
Releases | University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
newsroom.unl.edu/releases/2015/08/13/Study: Drivers ed significantly
reduces teen crashes, tickets. Accessed 12 June 2019.