Why Driver’s Education is Important to Me

Mia Johnson

October 7, 2020

Why Driver’s Education is Important to Me

Everyone knows that attending a driver’s education course is a vital role in earning a driver’s license. But so little people truly value the education they receive and they simply look at it as just another step in getting their license. I believe that if states put a higher priority on thoroughly educating new drivers and thoroughly reeducating seasoned drivers, there would be far fewer car accidents and fatalities.

I was born and raised in Hawai’i, a state infamous for terrible traffic. In 2019, Hawai’i had roughly 10,000 serious car accidents and 120-150 fatalities. For such a small state, this is an unacceptable amount of accidents. Our Department of Transportation is working on a plan called “Towards Zero Deaths”: statistics show that our drivers are far from reaching this goal. Making mandatory driver’s education courses helps drivers feel more equipped with the knowledge of the potential scenarios that can occur while driving.

I believe that if our states put more money into making driver’s education courses more accessible, we could see an upturn in the amount of accidents yearly. The main problem is finances. Many of the public courses in Hawai’i have a long waitlist and once admitted, the classes are crowded and the entire process can take up to a year and the private classes can cost up to $500. This causes many people to opt-out of the course altogether and wait until they turn 18: this is a very dangerous pattern and people who have not recieved training should not be able to drive. Another strategy should be to make the courses less classroom-based. From my experience in Driver’s Education, my classes were from 7AM-3PM; a vast majority of it being old training videos. This makes it incredibly difficult for teenagers to focus on the content they’re absorbing. The videos should be filmed in the context of the problems drivers face today: people using phones on the road, vaping, and driving under the influence. Another strategy is to put a higher emphasis on actual driving practice with the instructor. Many students have very little time driving with the instructor, making it harder for them to prepare for the dangers of the road.

While I’ve been extremely fortunate to have a clean driving record in my time in the road, my sister recently got into a life-changing accident. The roads were slippery and she was driving too fast, and when the road curved, she spun out of control. It all happened so fast that she had no idea what to do. She hit the light pole and came into the opposite lane and hit two cars. Thankfully, she was not hurt, but it’s scary to think that so many people’s lives are ended with reckless driving. She wished she had remembered what her driving instructor said about skidding out of control: take your feet off the petals and steer in the direction you wish to turn. Her experience has made me a much more cautious driver. Some ways I’m trying to improve is not using my phone while driving, being more cautious about my speed, paying special attention for pedestrians, and doing regular maintenance checks to avoid vehicle malfunction.

All in all, driver’s education is extremely vital for reducing the amount of accidents and fatalities on the road. Even though the system is flawed and there are improvements to be made, we have made a lot of progress in equipping drivers and overall making the roads a safer place for everyone.