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Round 3 – The Importance of Drivers’ Education and Road Safety

Name: Sara McCants
From: Oak Harbor, Washington
Votes: 0

The Importance of Drivers’ Education and Road Safety

“Drivers’ ed.” is something all sophomores within high school partake in with excitement and happiness, for it’s the first step in providing them more freedom and independence from their parents. They swing their lanyards in wide circles when they get their first pair of car keys, bragging to their peers about their accomplishment in completing the drivers’ education course and having new-found control of how they transport themselves. Life, for them, couldn’t have gotten any better in that moment. With a twist of their wrist holding the keys and a good push on the exhaust pedal, they are off to see what the world has to unfold for them, even if it’s just to drive to school and back home. However, it appears as though there is one thing that all drivers forget in this moment of euphoria in being able to drive: it only takes a single wrong turn, a hiccup, or a brief moment of broken-concentration from a tempting text message to transform a vehicle into a tool of destruction. Just as easily as a car can move a person from one destination to another, it can take a life, damage property, or forever disfigure an individual with no way of giving back what they had lost. Although Drivers’ Education may appear as an obstacle for new drivers in giving them their independence, it’s an especially important tool to use in reducing the amount of deaths and casualties caused by driving.

Experiencing drivers’ education is an important factor in lowering the curve of driving-related fatalities. Drivers’ Education teaches new students the basics of driving in addition to providing a safe and controlled environment where new drivers can practice and strengthen their driving skills. Driving with an instructor, whose job is to give tips and guidance on what a good driver should do and avoid doing, is an easy and quick way for students to amend their mistakes early on. Honing down on what skills an individual lacks in their driving capabilities prior to hitting the road can help reduce the number of deaths as a result because they would be more experienced on what to do in a specific scenario, like if a police car were to turn on their sirens and expected all cars to give them right of way. In total, Drivers’ Education is detrimental to give new drivers a space that is meant to help fix their mistakes early on with little to no consequences, advise new drivers on what to do during particular scenarios that may induce stress or panic, and gives new drivers a better foundation on the basics of driving and traffic laws to promote a smaller chance of an accident occurring because of lack of knowledge or understanding on how maneuvering a vehicle works.

Steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving are to refresh the newly learned content from Drivers’ Education as well as doing the basic steps taught since childhood, like wearing a seatbelt when riding within a car. Whenever being seated within a car, one should always put a seatbelt on prior to its departure. Once all passengers have their seatbelts in place, the driver should adjust the mirrors if need be and then begin their travel. The car should always be within the set speed-limit, stop when at a stop light, and always look both sides before making a turn or when at an intersection. One must always be aware of their surroundings. Are there any pedestrians waiting to cross? Is there a biker in the biking lane? Who arrived at the intersection first? Is there an ambulance with its lights and alarm on behind me? All of these scenarios, and many more, are something that drivers need to pay attention to, in terms of stimulus outside of the car. Within the car, it’s both the driver and passengers’ best interest to ensure that the driver is capable of driving. Has the driver been drinking prior to sitting behind the wheel? Has the driver been getting enough sleep and is aware enough to be able to operate the vehicle without fail, even when an emergency occurs? Has the driver completed their driver’s education and has a proper driving license on them prior to the vehicle’s departure? Again, all of these ideas and scenarios are what both the driver and the car’s passengers need to be thoughtful of to ensure the best safety for not only themselves but for others as well. This will help reduce the number of deaths related to driving.

I’ve never experienced being in a car accident, though I was very close to having a fatal one back in Japan on one summer evening. For context, driving in Japan isn’t as common in comparison to biking or walking, especially for the youth. Not many Japanese high school students pursue a driver’s license unlike U.S. high school students. It was especially uncommon to see many young drivers from where we had been visiting family, which was within the Akita prefecture. Akita is less-so urban than their southern counterparts; the prefecture is riddled with rice fields and the roads aren’t the best in quality. Nonetheless, transportation by car is possible. Returning home after a day of working and helping our family with their business, my mother was driving a white van while my brother sat beside her in the left passenger seat and I sat in the back. We were approaching an intersection and had the right of way. Looking left and right, there appeared to have been no cars approaching the intersection, and so my mom began to move forward. Right when we were about to cross, another car adjacent to us came flying by. My mother braked as did the other car. There was a long pause amongst both cars after they had both stopped. No one moved nor made a sound. Peering out of my backseat window, I could see that the driver was a young woman, maybe in her early twenties; I can only assume she wasn’t as experienced in driving as was my mom. She had come from our left side. Had both cars collided with the speed and momentum the young woman had with our car, the injuries would have been fatal, and the first to go would have been my brother, me, and then my mom. Thankfully both cars left that intersection unscathed, but the memory of this event never left me. Had both cars not reacted fast enough, I may not be here today. Through this experience, the importance of checking both ways before crossing has been engraved into my brain, as well as wearing a seatbelt. I swore to myself I wouldn’t make this mistake when I was behind the wheel.

Steps that I can take in being a better and safer driver would be to remain assertive when I tell fellow passengers to wear seatbelts; without one, there will be no travel within my car. I would also focus my attention on the road and my surroundings, not on my phone or towards my friends or family in the car with me. I am of short stature, so I should adjust the car seat and windows that give me the best view of my surroundings. Looking both left and right is a must; being aware and attentive to what one’s surroundings are within traffic is a key part of driving safety. To help others become safer on the road, I would check crosswalks for pedestrians, honk my car horn if another driver’s car is malfunctioning (such as a broken winker) and tell them of the issue if they roll down their window. The most that an individual can do to ensure that roads stay safe would be to undergo a Drivers’ Education course and follow traffic laws accordingly.