4 wheels of power

4 wheels of power

It is not my opinion that drivers ed is imperative, it is a fact. Statistics indicate that more Americans died in car accidents in the span of 2 years than American soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. Most of the deaths that occurred in car accidents could have been prevented with invaluable drivers ed. Little things such as checking the side mirrors before switching lanes are often sadly overlooked and their consequences have been irreversible to innocent pedestrians and the driver him/herself. Drivers ed builds a more competent and cautious driver who is able to spot road hazards and take the necessary actions to avoid these (such as pulling over or driving at a lower speed).

An area of importance I would magnify is early education for teens (16 years+) regarding safe driving. Extra sessions on safety before the future driver is legally able to drive may insert emphasis on safe driving procedures so that young drivers will learn to respect the rules of the road, resulting in lower death rates. The objective of this extra training is to really hone in on how to act on the road and stressing what not to do, such as checking texts while driving. Hopefully good habits will become habitual and this will lead to an appreciation in safe drivers as time progresses.

I was in the passenger seat 2 weeks ago in my very first car collision. We are from the UK and over there, roads are much smaller. My dad was not able to correctly judge what color the traffic light was when drove up to the junction. From afar it looked green but due to the distance between us and the traffic light we did not notice the light change. This led to a collision with the tail end of a small BMW which sent it into a tail spin. Thankfully no one was seriously injured but we all learned our lesson, not to talk excessively to the driver while he/she is driving because it disrupts their ability to make safe decisions. Henceforth, the drive from Atlanta to Florida was very quiet and rightfully so. A quick conversation was not worth the risk of another accident which could lead in death.

I am going to be driving soon enough and from all my years in the passenger seat and driving safety classes I took in high school, I can pledge that I will endeavor to educate more people about the value of driving safely to reduce deaths by vehicular accidents. We need to remove the stigma of driving safety among the youth as certain youth culture values risk taking in order to inflate their sense of self worth to appear cool. But in my opinion, I believe every teen and adult has a moral responsibility to drive safely to protect the life of everyone around them.