The Importance of Drivers Education

Darien Harvey

Driver education is very important when it comes to reducing the deaths from driving because it teaches students how to properly and safely operate vehicles. As well as operating a vehicle in different conditions and circumstances. A lot of the time, people become very comfortable with driving and intend to get a little careless. This, resulting in the probability of an accident occurring.

To make matters safer when it comes to driving, there needs to be more restrictions when driving to lower the chances of an accident happening. For example, a reason why a lot of accidents happen now is due to speeding and distractions. Stated by the National Safety Council, “…cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million car crashes each year.” And it’s considered a distraction when it comes to being on the phone, turning around talking to passengers, and generally just not having your full attention on the road ahead of you. Being aware of your surroundings is very important when you’re driving. One step that could lessen the chances of deaths by cars is phones all automatically turning off once it senses that the vehicle is going over 20 miles per hour. Along with that, it will not be able to turn back on until either a complete stop, or under the miles per hour given. This I feel would tremendously lower the chances of accidents happening because without having access to your device, the less tempting it is to have another distraction. Another step we could take to avoid accidents happening is to implement more laws in place and raise fines when using a device so that citizens can understand the severity and potential danger it creates when not having your full attention on the road ahead. Lastly, also having current drivers go back into these classes to refresh their memory and the precautions they need to have while operating a vehicle. I personally took driver education classes and I feel that one thing that should’ve been highlighted more was the prohibition of cell phones while driving. And as long as that is being neglected from being discussed in these classes, the more accidents are likely to continue to occur.

Personally, I have been a passenger in two accidents that I can recall that could have been avoided if some more awareness was displayed. One being that my brother was texting and driving, and we ended up rear-ending a car in front of us. The second being when my mom was making a left turn and a car t-boned us causing us to spin out. To address the first incident with my brother, that could’ve easily been avoided if the phone was either off or out of reach until coming to a complete stop. As for the second mishap, if my mother had been a little bit more cautious of her surroundings, we could have waited for that car to pass and then attempt to make our turn safely. Now, a feature that is displayed on a lot of vehicles now, are these collision warnings and sensors being able to play a part in avoiding any type of car accident. If we had that on our vehicle when either of these accidents took place, maybe that could’ve helped avoid that incident.

Lastly, there’s always room for improvement and me myself could even practice better ways of driving to lessen my chances of an accident occurring. For example, playing music at a lower tone to hear my surroundings and be aware of what’s going on around me. If the music is playing too loud, that’s all I’ll be able to hear. Another step I could take to be a better driver is to not pick up my phone at all while my car is in drive. My attention needs to be completely on the task at hand which is driving and reaching my destination. I also could encourage others to be safer while driving while being a passenger and answering the phone for them if it’s an emergency. Also, just generally educating people on the risks of driving and it not always having to be your fault for an accident to occur.

In conclusion, driver education could make a huge difference and impact on society if students truly apply the concepts, they learned in those classes to actually being behind the wheel. The steps I have suggested and mentioned would be nothing more than a great contribution to the beginning steps of lowering the risks of deaths involving cars.