Driving for a Better Tomorrow

Education
is vital to the future of America. Whether in it takes place in the
workplace, classroom or on the roads, there is always more we can
learn. Educating our future drivers is very important to providing
safety and helping our economy. We can start to make a difference by
educating these young drivers to keep their eyes on the road and
their mindset in the right place. Drivers ed can lead to a
new safer era of driving. 

Drivers’
education is very important to staying safe on the road. In a study
completed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln it was found 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 study showed.” (Reed) This shows
that one of the easiest ways we can improve driver safety is by
informing and improving the overall education of those on the road.

There
are a few important steps that can be taken to reduce the number of
deaths related to driving. I believe everyone should have the ability
to participate in drivers ed to increase safety for themselves,
their families, and the other people on the road when behind the
wheel. This is hard to accomplish because driving schools can cost
anywhere around $200-$800. There are a lot of people who do not have
this type of money to spend on drivers ed when it is not
required. So in order to take care of that, I believe that driver
education should be made mandatory but people who are low-income can
qualify for a grant from the government for the drivers ed
course cost. This will also improve not only the actual safety on the
road, but also help to maintain the roads’ condition. With less
crashes, speeding tickets, and other driver related issues, the
government would have to pay less money to maintain the upkeep of the
roads. The money saved can go directly into the grant for low-income
people and proves that this is a possible and viable option. 

I
have seen a lot of reckless driving as a teenager. Between drag
racing on common roads or doing burnouts in parking lots, there is
irresponsibility everywhere and mostly fueled by peer pressure.
Driving recklessly can cause serious injury and fatalities that can
be easily avoided. I believe one way to get rid of reckless driving
would be increasing the penalty and making it known that the
penalties have been increased. This was done with driving under the
influence (DUI) when ads were released showing that no good could
come from driving after being affected by a substance. Steps should
be taken to campaign against reckless driving. There are facts that
should be made known. For example, “Reckless driving causes 33% of
all deaths involving major car accidents, which are more than 13,000
each year and 30% of auto accidents are credited to the speed of
reckless drivers.” People should know these statistics and beware
of the true dangers of reckless driving. 

As
I have stated before, education is important. From Drivers ed
we stand to protect our roads, economy, and most importantly, our
citizens. Reckless driving can be considered a danger of the past.
Drivers must understand that with great power comes great
responsibility and that should be taken into account every time
someone gets behind the wheel. Together, we can help to stop reckless
driving and improve the education of our current and future drivers. 

University
of Nebraska-Lincoln. “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:+Driver%27s+ed+significantly+reduces+teen+crashes,+tickets.