Drivers education

Driving is a huge responsibility. Most teenagers are not able to grasp the importance of operating a large vehicle. Driver’s education is a half of a year class that is easily passed and forgot. There are steps that need to be taken to increase safety for teens. Because it is so common place, it seems less important. I have had two car accidents affect my life. I have been taught to respect the responsibility of driving.

Education is the answer to the problem of teenage driving fatalities. Currently the way that driver’s education is set up has teens get their permit a year before they are able to drive. This means that they are learning from their parents. It relies heavily on parents teaching their children the basics of driving. While this is a good idea in theory, it breaks down in practice. My father is a fire fighter. He has seen some horrific accidents caused by distracted teens and adults. He took my driving education very seriously. I drove with him every chance I got. We tripled the hours required for driver’s education before we stopped counting. I felt very prepared to go into driver’s education classes. In contrast, my friend’s parents had a different approach. They allowed her to take the car by herself even before she got her permit. When she did get her permit, they allowed her to take the car at any time, without them. She taught herself the rules of driving and risked losing her chance to get her license. Not to mention the very real possibility of a serious car accident. She didn’t know about checking her blind spot and almost hit cars several times. She was able to get her license after taking driver’s education but the lesson of complacency is still rooted deep. She has already been in two fender benders in the two years since she got her license. Both times she was distracted. I believe that if she was taught properly by her parents, these accidents could have been avoided. I think that driver’s education should come first. And then have students go home and practice. This makes the most educational sense.

I have had two accidents that have affected my life. One was when I was nineteen years old. My father was called to an emergency. When he arrived, he parked the fire truck and went to help the person in distress on the side of a busy highway. It was snowing and slick outside. He was struck by a car and flew twenty feet. He was life flighted to the hospital and spent the next three months recovering. We faced the possibility of losing our father. It was a reality check that has changed the way we interact with each other and how we drive.

The second accident that affected me was an easily avoidable mistake. I was driving through an intersection when a teenager that was on social media, ran a red light and t boned my car. She got a ticket for reckless driving for running the red light and another for being distracted. I broke my wrist and had severe whiplash. It took me months of physical therapy and doctor’s visits to get back to my normal self.

I am a big supporter of laws against distracted driving.