Change for the better

Change for the Better

By completing a structured Driver Education program one is more knowledgeable of road skills, rules, and sign and signal meanings. This knowledge promotes a safe driving experience to ultimately reduce the risk of deaths as a result of driving.

I do believe learning driver education promotes drivers to obey the traffic laws, be predictable, avoid distractions, drive rested, to stay away from alcohol and drugs, and all and all be a safe driver. However, accidents are not always your fault, it may be the cause of drivers around you. I say this by experience: while driving on the freeway, the driver to the right of me did not check their shoulder before switching over to my lane and as a result, almost crashed into me if it weren’t for me swerving over to the lane to the left of me where luckily there was no car. It was not until after this experience when I have become more prepared by, for instance, checking if there is a driver on the left of me when there is a driver on the right of me so that I know I, along with any other life around me, is safe if I ever need to quickly move lanes over while put in the same situation. While I do believe this is something that I should have practiced before this experience, I was not as prepared as I do feel now after experiencing this accident myself. This is why I believe certain procedures should be added to the driver education to better prepare drivers for experiences like mine.

A procedure that I believe would especially help visual learners, like myself, is simulations that virtually put drivers in a near-accident position. I believe being visually put in this position and being forced to make a quick decision adds more value in addition to reading about ways to prevent accidents. I do not wish for a driver to experience a near-accident occurrence for them to feel more prepared for the next one that possibly is to come. Thus, this should be an added change to reduce the number of deaths related to driving