Driver’s Education is not High School Summer Vacation

The Driver Education Initiative Award: In the Driver’s Seat, is open to current high school and college students. You must submit an essay of no more than 500 words that answers the following questions: What is the importance of driver education in reducing the number deaths as a result of driving? What steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving? Have you ever had an experience of being in car accident or have seen your friends or family members driving irresponsibly? What steps can you take to be a better and safer driver as well as help others become safer on the road?

Driver’s Education is not High School Summer Vacation

Everyone who attends drivers education learns the common knowledge that they should focus on the road at all times when they are driving. In order to hurry up and get their driver’s license, everyone in the classroom nods at the instructor and has a hard time imagining anybody who wouldn’t follow this basic rule of the road. However, just attending driver’s education is a step in the right direction for teenage driving.

As for many people in the world, driving safety has a strong, lasting impact on me. My aunt lost her first husband because a car sharply veered off the road onto the sidewalk. My cousin was badly injured, along with several others, when the driver of the car wasn’t focusing on the road and crashed. My uncle had two vehicles totally destroyed because the other drivers were crossing an intersection without complete regard of the other drivers on the road during those dark winter nights. In many of these, younger people were driving the car and learned the hard way that this is what happens when you veer off of what is taught in driver’s education.

The entire reason for driver education is the same reason the mandatory education system exists for all citizens of the US: to prevent the next generation from joyriding into their next stage of life and making mistakes that their elders could’ve prevented. Though, like high school, with the teenage memory curve in mind, professionals know that as much exposure to the material as possible will allow some parts to click with thm. This strong foundation will go on to solidify a student’s career even further as they apply what they learned even if they don’t feel like they remember anything from their schooling. Even if students who attend driver education only remember the bare essentials of driving, it’s light years away then if they didn’t attend.

Driver education should be on par with being allowed to fly a plane or owning a firearm. While many of these activities require vigorous training, background checks, and years of experience, driving a car takes only a few months experience for a 16 year old. Many people sympathize with teenagers who are so desperate to drive that they forget the hazards of thrusting an inexperienced minor into the front lines of an NFL tournament. Parents should have a no tolerance policy where if they text while driving, their driving privileges should be diminished. After all, the highway isn’t as merciful as many parents are. Another method of more effective driver education is having the student take notes, watch their parents drive on the highway or in different conditions, practice this with their instructor at a minimum of 50 times, and be tested on it so they understand it’s importance. There should be a class for each weather, road condition, or other scenario of driving. In the end, every additional day driver’s education is in session, thousands of people are saved and rewarded for their hard work.