Drivers Ed: Commitment to Safety

Lexy Koki

Commitment To Safety

The time had finally come for me to get my permit. One step closer to a driver’s license and another step closer to freedom. I practiced and memorized every answer needed for my permit test, I didn’t think of it any more than some rules so I won’t get a ticket and I’ll make it home in one piece. All that went through my head was “freedom at last”. To me, having a license was the key to growing up and having fun. But I couldn’t get my license for another six months and until I completed a drivers ed course.

The moment I put the key into the ignition instant nerves occurred and I couldn’t keep still from excitement. I made it home safely but along the way it took a bit of scolding from my dad that I was doing some things wrong, I didn’t go with the flow of traffic, I unintentionally cut some people off, and I didn’t wait. If I continued that way I could be a hazard to the public. What I didn’t know when I turned the key to leave was that it was a commitment to the safety of myself and others. I didn’t know nearly as much as I needed to know to keep that commitment.

Most states require you to take a drivers ed course to get to know road rules, the dos, and don’ts, the whole gig. It’s a tedious process but needed and you won’t regret taking it in the future. It helps with reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving because it teaches you all that you need to know, from when to cross, who to drive by depending on car size, what you can do when driving, it’s all there and all you need to do is follow what they share. Something you don’t learn in permit quizzes is why small cars shouldn’t drive by big trucks. The force, mass, and speed of the truck will end up pulling the car or maybe the truck won’t be able to see the car and accidentally hit it. It’s the knowledge that we can follow to be able to return home safely.

Reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving is a simple yet complicated process, but where it can start is with you. It’s more than just complying with rules and responsible driving, what we have to do is teach others how to drive safely. We don’t need to give them professional education, although that’s highly recommended, you can talk to them about safe driving in pure conversation or just answering a few questions. It’s simple enough to share but what makes it complicated is that you can’t do this for everyone. As much as you’d like everyone to be safe, we can’t get to everyone and would have to trust strangers that they’d be able to drive without putting others and themselves in danger. How I can help is spreading any knowledge needed when driving and also driving safely myself. For example, if I see something happening I can slow down, slowing down is usually a sign of something wrong happening or traffic is changing.

Throughout my life, my family and I have driven passed countless accidents, some I never gave a second glance to, and others I’d stare at it until I couldn’t see it. Fortunately, I have never been on the side of being a part of a crash nor has any of my friends or family, maybe a few hiccups but nothing serious enough for medical attention, the only thing hurting was their wallets from insurance. Although I have never experienced it first-hand, I still think about what would have happened if it was someone I cared about. From what I’ve heard they were all ok. It wasn’t until an accident about two years ago where everything really clicked for me as to how important it is to know everything from car-size importance to learning that you have to drive safely for others. What had happened was that two vehicles were a part of a head-on collision, a big truck and a small car, both groups in critical condition but the person in the car was affected the most, and it was due to reckless and drunk driving. A family member of a friend was a part of it and it really hurt seeing them in pain due to their loss. It really got me thinking what would I be like if that happened to me? How does that affect me? How do I affect others? How do I avoid it?

As fun and great as it is to gain your permit or license, we have to understand the importance of knowing the roads we drive on. The highways and freeways aren’t like an empty parking lot. It’s not just you out there, there are families, there are friends, there are people that are cared about. Your driving affects people who aren’t even driving or in a car, simply losing someone due to a car accident is hard. It’s better to stay safe than sorry. So when you ask why it’s so important to take the Drivers Ed course, just know, it helps to save lives, it helps you to keep your unspoken word that you and someone else will return home safely because you knew what to do. When you turn the key to the ignition it’s your commitment of safety not only to yourself but everyone else.