The Importance of Driver Education

Driver Education Initiative

Often times, adolescents believe horrible accidents will never happen to them; they believe they are above negative things. While they may truly think that, in reality, it is the opposite. If driver education were more normalized, then it would reduce the deaths as a result of driving. According to the CDC, in 2017 approximately 2,300 individuals between the ages of sixteen and nineteen were killed in a vehicle accident; this is simply too much.

I had a sixteen-year-old friend, his name was Steven Smith. He died in February of 2018 because he was on his phone and went off the road. Perhaps if the idea of driver education were more normalized, this would not have happened. A step that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is to bring awareness to students about the dangers of texting and driving, along with driving under the influence. In the modern era, it is becoming increasingly more accepted to text and drive. Also, because marijuana is becoming more popularized, it is more common to see students driving under the influence.

 A precaution that my former high school took to help students realize the dangers of driving under the influence was to educate their students about the grief that can overtake family and friends after an incident happens. On the day before prom, the school would put on a skit that involved paramedics, a group of students dying in a car crash, and the mourning of families. They would have the “dead” students lay in coffins to make it more realistic. After the skit would be completed, students were always left in tears. Though some could argue they used scare tactics, I think the way to correctly inform students on driver etiquette it to allow them to have a visual of how horrible things are able to go. After Steven died, people were very hesitant to drive because they realized the dangers. 

Steps that I can take to be a better and safer driver are making sure I wear my seat belt, putting my phone away when I drive, not driving under the influence, and following the traffic regulations put in place to ensure safety. There are also ways that I am able to help others become safer on the road. Some of these ways include reminding them to wear a seat belt, if I am in the car with them, I could send their messages instead of them being on their phone. I am also able to remind them that traffic regulations are put in place for a reason. 

In conclusion, driver education will not be able to happen overnight. However, with the help of everyone, we will be able to minimize the damage and loss people may experience if their loved ones did not receive proper driver education.