In the Driver’s Seat

Nevaeh C. Fakeye

DmvEdu.org

Drivers Education Initiative 2020

28 October, 2020

In the Driver’s Seat

One glance away from the road can put you in grave danger. A person’s reaction time is between 1 – 3 seconds, so if your focus is paid on other things while you’re driving, you’re most likely not going to catch yourself and end up in an accident. In America young drivers between the age of 15- and 20-year-olds account for 6.4% which is 3.2 million of the total drivers. An average of nine teenage ages 16 – 19-year old are killed every day by motor vehicles injuries. 2,739 drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 were killed and an additional 228, 000 were injured in crashes (Car Accidents).

To help decrease the number of deaths, we need to look deeper into our driver’s education. By doing this, we’re able to monitor people’s learning material and we can look at how we can help drivers become more efficient. In order to be a legal driver, you must follow laws and guidelines to provide protection to drivers on the road. If we look deeper into how we can help out individuals who seek to get their license, we can ultimately help lessen the amount of deaths of all ages. Especially for our younger drives.

The importance of driver education in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving is to go into deep and thoughtful teaching for drivers of all ages. Driving is easy, but it’s life or death. Small uncalculated and hurried actions can cause the death of the driver and/or anyone in the accident. We shouldn’t put just any and everyone on the road. Driver educators can help critique and break down the test material to their driver students. It’s a unique way to teach our future drivers in a way they’ll better understand. This establishes that the information is registered enough in their minds. This teaches them how the road works and the law to keep themselves and others safe.

Some steps that can be beneficial to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is to monitor the driver’s focus on the road. It’s crucial to not have any immediate distractions. Not all can be avoided, but it’s best to control the ones we can. For example, a phone ringing. With first-time drivers, it’s best to establish comfortability. You can incorporate conversations, some music, or anything that isn’t extremely distracting to the driver. This allows the driver to be comfortable and not too uptight to where they make a sudden or unintentional decision that could jeopardize their and others’ safety. Also, gaining a relationship with your student will help them feel safer and not as nervous on the road. Another step to reduce the number of deaths is by making sure they instinctively know the rules of the road, such as: the difference between yellow and white lines, signs, how to get off an exit, who has the right of way, etc. You can do this by asking them these questions as they drive. This initiates that they’re thinking about what’s happening on the road, keeping them alert.

In my lifetime, I have experienced being in a car accident and know of friends and family who’ve experienced the same. For instance, when I was in elementary school, my grandma was dropping off my cousin and I at school. Another car ended up ramming into the back, where my cousin and I were. I experienced the fear and overwhelming anxiety of what being in a car wreck felt like. This encounter has swayed me to be more alert, responsible, and open for improvement with my driving.

Steps I can take to be a better and safer driver is to be patient, thoughtful, and aware of my surroundings. To help others safer on the road is to do the same thing. I, as a driver can ensure I follow the rules and warn them of the dangers of their and others’ driving. If I were to teach them, I would be the most useful person possible, teach them what I know, and allow them to be comfortable around me.