Driver’s Education

Bethany Adams

Driver’s Education Initiative Award

15 November 2020

Driver’s Education

When licensing their teenagers, many parents will wonder: Is paying for another person to teach my child to drive really worth it? The answer to that is yes, having professional driving lessons can go a long way in preventing car crashes and the injuries and deaths related to them by ensuring that as many drivers as possible know what they are doing on the road.

In order to be as safe as possible, most students would benefit from not just learning how to drive from their parents, but by also learning from a professional. Most parents have been driving long enough to feel comfortable on the road, and because of that, will feel alright doing unsafe activities such as leaning back, or moving their hands from the wheel. These are small things that they may not even think about when teaching you, but a new driver will not have their experience. That new driver is liable to pick up those habits, leading to unsafe driving right from the start. A professional teacher will know to point out everything learners need to be doing, forcing them to pay attention to things that parents might forget, even if they do not mean to.

Knowing how to drive safe when everyone else is safe is not the only thing one needs to know though. Where I live, almost anyone can get a driver’s license. The test to prove your competence in a vehicle is disturbingly simple- a three point turn and a loop around the neighborhood, with a max speed of 15 miles an hour. Because of this, there is the possibility of many underqualified drivers on the road. Even if you know how to handle yourself, potentially fatal crashes can happen because of someone else’s incompetence. In order to protect yourself from someone else’s rough driving, many of the driving schools near here offer courses that go beyond just surface road driving, and teach spinning and recovery, or give the chance to get a feel for near crashes and how to respond. Parents don’t always have the chance to teach children these things as they don’t have a safe way to do so. A driving school has special cars, trained professionals, and tracks set up specifically for these situations however, so they can show students without putting anyone in danger.

While driving school can be costly to some, it is worth the money. To fix a broken car would be even more expensive, and not to mention medical bills from an injured rider. Plus, many insurance companies will lower rates for students who take lessons. The cost is less of a nuisance, and more of an insurance. In order to be the safest driver possible, students can take their lessons professionally, and more importantly, make sure that they continue to use what they have learned in the future. Drivers should remember that there is no benefit in learning safety techniques if they just become complacent in the future and don’t use them.