Drivers (Need) Education

Trinity Stribling

Clarendon College

4 June 2020

Drivers (Need) Education

In my five years of driving, I’m very fortunate to be able to say that I’ve never personally been involved in an accident. However, despite this, I have still been exposed to the more negative aspects of driving and seen the direct consequences of the decisions made behind the wheel. I’ve witnessed a car directly in front of me getting t-boned by an eighteen-wheeler who hadn’t managed to stop at a red light, my uncle was in an accident and now suffers from epilepsy due to his injuries, and most heartbreaking of all, I even lost a good friend as a child who was hit by a driver while trying to get his toy out of the road. Luckily, stories like these are simply worst-case-scenario horror stories for most people. In any case, it is important to acknowledge the unfortunate fact that these things do happen though, and they can happen to you. It is your job to understand the dangers and responsibilities that come with operating a motor vehicle.

First and foremost, it is imperative that we reduce the amount of distractions that we face while driving. The most obvious distractions are cell phones, but you also need to remain mindful of the road while adjusting the radio, eating, and even while simply talking to passengers in the vehicle with you. There is no text message worth reading or sending, no phone call worth answering, no order of fries worth eating, and certainly no alcoholic beverage worth drinking when it could lead to death or injury of you, your passengers, or other drivers on the road. This all seems so obvious—after all, how hard can it be to just ignore your phone?—but distracted driving still remains such a huge issue and it leads to so many unnecessary deaths every single year. It is your job to be proactive and eliminate distractions before you even get on the road; fasten your seatbelt, adjust your mirrors, pick the playlist you want to listen to, and put your phone away before you ever even put your car in gear. Doing anything less just makes you selfish and inconsiderate of the other living beings on the road with you, and the last thing you need is someone’s life being stripped away from them due to your mistakes.

In addition, there are major reforms needed in our current drivers ed courses and the testing methods that have been used for years. In my personal opinion, most courses are outdated and don’t take modern factors, such as the advance of technology, into account when setting new drivers out onto the open road. As time has passed, I’ve definitely grown more comfortable behind the wheel by simply getting out and experiencing the road for myself, but I definitely felt nervous and under-prepared right after I got my license. Although I was thrilled with the new sense of freedom (and admittedly relieved to have gotten the test over with), I still didn’t feel as if one fifteen-minute driving test was necessarily enough to fully assess my driving skills and determine whether or not I was ready to drive on my own. Perhaps there could be a more thorough driving test that covers more specific scenarios, or even a string of different tests, to ensure that only those who are actually ready to drive without help are able to get their licenses. While it is obviously more convenient to take one short test that grades you on a broad scale, thorough and newly-updated book/online courses followed by more specific in-vehicle testing methods could lead to fewer automobile deaths and better prepare people for the responsibility they accept when they make the decision to put their vehicles on the open road.

In conclusion, the changes that need to be made when it comes to being a better, safer driver are endless. There is no perfect formula for tackling a problem as huge as this one, but acknowledging the issues within the system and within yourself, and then doing your part to correct the issues you stumble upon as an individual driver, is a good place to start. Whether you agree with the changes being proposed or not, there is one thing everybody can agree on: the number of deaths from car accidents is unacceptable and, sadly, often preventable. Change, whether systemic or on an individual basis, needs to begin somewhere, and it needs to happen sooner rather than later.