“Take Wheels, Not Lives”

Mari Kristine Toledo

November 18, 2020

“Take Wheels, Not Lives”

Driver education is something people take for granted after learning it. I believe that driver education plays a vital role in reducing death rates from driving because people tend to make their own rules on the road and disregard the consequences of their actions.

Coming from my experience as a licensed driver in the Philippines and now in America, the difference between the two countries is that driver education is taken very seriously in America compared to the Philippines, but their similarity is that some drivers tend to disregard all the rules they have learned after getting the privilege of driving. I believe this is one of the main reasons why accidents happen in the road and people will agree that at some point in their driving experience they have broken a law and got away with it. What I can suggest for this matter is to implement the importance of driver’s education more by giving people the consequence of enrolling for driver’s education classes every time they are caught breaking a law. By this solution, people will be more mindful and aware by the consequences of their actions on the road and possible sanctions that they can receive.

As someone who has 2 years of driving experience in the Philippines, I have experienced getting involved in a collision, but the damage wasn’t severe. I took responsibility for the action that I did and I admit that my focus was zoning out from the road that resulted to a rear-end collision. Thankfully my dad was there to help me talk to the other driver, but it was also a big lesson learned for me. I myself have to admit that even my own family members and friends tend to be irresponsible drivers especially my dad because he has been driving for more than 20 years and because of this his confidence on the road is high. Regardless of how long people have been driving on the road, I strongly believe that no one should neglect rules because accidents are very unpredictable and with that, the least we can do is stay vigilant and be aware of what our actions could lead when we’re behind the wheel.

As a driver myself, the steps that I can do to keep our roads a safe place is to have my car given all the necessary maintenance when needed and to always think of every innocent life that could be taken on the road due to my actions. These people that we share the road with everyday could be someone’s family member, friend, or partner and the least we could do as an individual who has the privilege to be driving is to be mindful and aware of the life of others.