The Importance of Driver’s Education Around the Globe

For the first ten years of my life, I lived with my family overseas in Asia, where driver’s education is not as important to new drivers. The influence of this thinking could be seen throughout the area I lived. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of car crashes during my time overseas, many of which included pedestrians and bikers. My parents stopped at the site of several car crashes to help people. One day, my mother, brother, sister and I were driving on our electric bike to an art lesson. While waiting at an intersection, we witnessed a car hit a motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was trying to catch the tail end of the green light while the driver was driving with his eyes on a phone.  My mother told us to stay put while she went to help. Even from far away, we could see that his head was bleeding from the collision as he laid on the road. This horrific crash could have been prevented with a few simple safety precautions, such as waiting for the next green light and putting away a cell phone while driving a car. The importance of safe driving and driver education cannot be understated.  Lives hang in the balance of everyone’s daily decisions as they choose to drive safely or not.

When I was ten, my family decided to make the move back to the United States, so I was able to participate in driver’s education when I turned fifteen. Seeing all the crashes in Asia made me a very cautious and nervous driver. By spending time in the classroom and completing Behind-The-Wheel driving, I have been able to become a safe driver. I learned a lot about safe rules of the road, road signs and emergency weather safety precautions. When people are educated about the different road procedures and put their education into action, they are able to protect their own safety and the safety of others.

The amount of driver’s fatalities due to simple mistakes or distractions is still unacceptably high. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2,841 lives were lost due to distracted driving in 2018. While in Asia, my father was hit several times on his bicycle, because of drivers who were texting, calling, or paying attention to another task. We can reduce the amount of deaths by warning against the dangers of distracted driving and passing laws about it. My home state of Minnesota has passed several laws requiring hands-free cell phone use while driving. This has led to a 15% reduction in distracted driving deaths in states with these laws. 

These past experiences have taught me that driving is a dangerous mode of transportation when you are distracted. In order to be a safe driver, I work to reduce possible distractions that could lead me into a crash, like cell phones, loud music and other passengers. I also work with friends and family to create a culture of safe driving, reminding each other to drive safely.