The Value of Education

The Value of Education

Parents can teach their children many things in life; but, even if they are good drivers themselves, it is often a matter of decades between when they formally learned the rules of safe driving and their chance to pass their knowledge on to the next generation. This begs the question: are they the best people to teach their children to drive?

Taking Drivers ed taught me not only the rules of the road but, more importantly, it taught me to drive safely. The program emphasizes so many facets of driving that are important to know yet often overlooked, such as the fact that roads are slickest at the beginning of any given rainstorm. I admit that I would never have known that had it not been for Drivers ed, but now I think about it each and every time that I am behind the wheel in the rain.

Whilst I took Drivers ed, many of my friends did not. Most said they could not afford it or simply could not be bothered to take it— which was evident in their driving. One time, when I was a passenger in the car of a friend who never took Drivers ed, my friend pulled up to a stop sign at the same time as the car on the right of us. We both stopped, and the other car continued. My friend became angry and claimed that the car should have waited, given that (according to them) the person on the left always has the right-of-way. I could not help but wonder what other important driving rules they were unaware of, which made me very uneasy to be a passenger with them again. It is for this reason that Drivers ed should be required for all drivers, be made more affordable and be offered in multiple languages. Doing so would increase the average driver’s knowledge and lead to decreased accidents caused by confusion and lack of knowledge.

There are many steps that must be taken to make the roads safer. In Indiana, a recent law has made it illegal to hold an electronic device while driving¹. Legislation of this nature is key because it will discourage drivers from using devices in any way while driving, decreasing the risk of accidents. Making drivers ed a requirement to get a license as well as enforcing stricter rules on electronic devices and distracted driving in all states is a crucial step to creating safer roadways and saving lives.

Works cited

May, E. (2020, June 30). Holding your phone while driving will be forbidden starting July 1: What you should know. Retrieved July 27, 2020, from https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/transportation/2020/06/30/hands-free-law-texting-while-driving-holding-phone-illegal-indiana/3174977001/