Name: Ashley Morgan
From: McDermott, Ohio
Votes: 0
Ashley
Morgan
Senior
at Northwest High School
In
the Driver’s Seat essay contest
July
14, 2019
The
Importance of Educated Driving
Every
teen and preteen at some point fantasizes about driving their first
car, and taking that first leap of independence. However,
inexperience makes teens dangerous drivers and without the proper
training or education, they can’t get better. If teens can’t get
better, they’re at risk of dying or being the cause of someone
else’s death. A study in 2015 on how Driver’s
Ed reduces teen crashes and tickets
followed more than 150,000 teen drivers over eight years. This study
found that drivers ed significantly reduces crashes and
traffic violations in new drivers. The results showed that young
drivers who have not completed drivers ed are 75 percent more
likely to get a traffic ticket, 24 percent more likely to be involved
in a fatal or injury accident and 16 percent more likely to have an
accident.
The
first step in reducing the number of deaths related to car accidents,
would be education. There are millions of programs designed to help
teens to be safer drivers. The organization behind this scholarship,
DMVEDU.org,
does an amazing job of providing online Drivers Ed and Traffic
School to places such as California, Georgia, and Nevada. Other
programs, such as Ford’s Driving Skills for Life, offer a different
type of training. Having been through the course myself, I know the
tips and tricks on the rougher edges of driving. We did sessions on
distracted driving, icy road conditions (how to correct a spinning
car), car anatomy, and impaired driving. The second step, and last
step, would be to apply your newfound information and knowledge to
teach your friends about the various programs that make them safer on
the road. If you wish to help more people than your immediate circle,
you could volunteer as an instructor for programs that need help.
As
a teenager myself, I’m not immune to accidents. Within my first
year of driving, I was waving at a neighbor and misjudged how far
away a curve was, I ended up going into the ditch and messing up the
car paint. Out of my two years of driving, this is still the only
accident I have caused, but not the first I’ve been in. The first
accident I was in was after my dad’s wedding. My mamaw was driving
me and my siblings home, she told my step-brother that he didn’t
need to put his seatbelt on if it was giving him trouble. I had
forced the seatbelt on and was the best choice I’ve ever made.
Later we swerved off the road to avoid hitting a deer and instead hit
a tree, if my step-brother didn’t have his seatbelt on, he would’ve
been launched through the front window. Other than that, my mamaw is
a safe driver, however, bad driving didn’t miss my aunt Lisa. When
Lisa drives, she speeds, then when people in front of her are “too
slow” she gets really close to them and causes the whole car ride
to be uncomfortable.
