Driver Developement

My driving career started early, when I was approximately fifteen and a half years old and I received my temporary learner’s permit. For many high school students, an early start to a driving career is almost a rite of passage into becoming an adult. Although I would venture to say that the parents of many other students that I went to high school with did not truthfully sign the hourly requirement for their children’s learner’s permit requirement, in order to take the driver’s license exam of course. Parents in this situation are just as much to blame for not teaching their children properly and being irresponsible leaders.

Growing up, I have always had an active lifestyle. My parents and I would take road trips quite regularly, usually on the weekends to Amish country, where we would get our weeks supply of cheese and Amish rolls. In this manner, I began to accumulate dozens of hours in driving time in simply becoming somewhat of a chauffeur for my parents, which was a great way to get used to driving. Then eventually came my driver’s test, which after riding with my instructor was quite simple, and I passed with flying colors. However, no matter what you tend to believe as far as how good a driver you are, stuff happens that you can’t always control, such as the time I was driving home with my parents while we were coming home from Amish country and a deer ran out of the brush and couldn’t get out of the way quick enough before I hit it. That was quite an experience for me; it was nerve-racking to say the least. That experience however made it clear to me that even the best drivers can’t always avoid an accident of some kind. After watching the deer fly over my mirror no more than two feet away I began to understand how real the threat to life even a deer could be while driving.

It is also in other experiences I’ve had with other drivers that really brings the value of drivers ed to light, such as other drivers getting angry and using their vehicle to try and taunt or bully you, which of course requires one to keep a level head, something only driver’s school can exemplify and prove useful. One other thing driver training does is show how many people die from a simple text that seems harmless, but can lead to one second of negligence that could cause something such as a head on collision and kill both parties involved.

As simple as it sounds, keeping your distance and watching the car in front of you is a great way to avoid an accident. Checking your mirrors as well and keeping your head on a swivel at all times will allow you to understand your surroundings and further increase your reaction time if say an irresponsible driver does something unsafe.