Making Foresight 20/20

Unlicensed drivers are responsible for around twenty percent of automobile collisions. When contrasted with the total percentage of unlicensed drivers on the road, which is closer to three, it becomes glaringly obvious that a lack of automotive education and training is directly correlated with an increase in accidents. Drivers who are not given a formal education may feel as though they are competent enough to operate a vehicle in many circumstances, and that may very well be true. However, driver’s education courses prepare their students for situations which are far less common. Having an education to draw upon in dangerous, uncertain circumstances is far less likely to be fatal than attempting to solve every new problem in real time while operating a multi-ton steel contraption.

Ultimately, the greatest way to reduce the number of automotive related fatalities is to ensure that every driver on the road knows how to react to uncommon yet foreseeable scenarios. For example, as a resident of the Mojave Desert, the majority of my experiences with icy roads was through my own driver’s education courses. While it may seem obvious in hindsight, I never would have thought about breaking distance being longer on slick surfaces. If the first time I had driven in frozen weather I did not have this knowledge to draw upon, it is not at all impossible that I may have found myself, at best, accidentally driving further into an intersection than intended, and at worst a lack of education could have led to tragedy.

In order to ensure that as few road fatalities occur, it is imperative that every driver not only prove their competence behind the wheel and with a written test, but also receive some sort of formal education. Drivers over eighteen, at least in my home state of California, are not required to take any formal driving instructions or pass any driver’s education courses, and the number of lives that could be saved by an expansion of these programs would easily justify the inconvenience. I have been fortunate enough to never personally witness a collision, but I have had several friends who were involved in an accident due to failure to adhere either to driving laws or to understand that the other driver did not intend on following them.

While it may not be the most conventional of advice for keeping streets safe, I feel as though it is just as important to understand that not every person follows the rules of the road as it is to know what those rules are. As a cyclist, I often am forced to surrender my right of way to negligent motorists who could not care less about traffic regulations. While it may upset me that my right to share the road is not being respected, it has kept me alive. Traffic laws exist for a reason, and if they were always followed, the world would be a safer place. But the expectation that we live in that world makes the road less safe.