Creating a Culture of Safe Driving

Creating a Culture of Save Driving

By Joseph Vidzicki

If someone were to do a cursory survey of American history since the beginning of the twentieth century, one could not overlook the impact of cars in developing America industrially, economically, and socially to very much what it is today. Since 1908 when Ford introduced the model T, the car has not only become a luxury but a necessity for travel. In addition, cars have been molded into a symbol of freedom as many teenagers long for the day when they can get their licenses and can drive wherever they want. Though cars have become more engrained into our culture, the deaths resulting from them has increased all the more as well. Cars offer great freedom but with that freedom comes an increased responsibility to use it wisely as the consequences can be disastrous.

While many may see driving as a skill one naturally picks up, having a formalized driver’s education is immensely important to maintaining safety on the road. First off, the highway is organic. In order to create a safe traffic system, every human being driving must obey the rules of the road. When any given person gets behind the wheel, he or she is depending on their fellow drivers drive well. If they fail to drive safely, that puts everyone around them at risk as well as them themselves. There is a shared responsibility for all to obey and drive safely for the common benefit of everyone. A formalized driver’s education helps with that by making sure that you yourself know the rules of the road to protect yourself as well as those with whom you share the road.

A second reason for the importance of a formalized driver’s education is the fact that the conditions in this world tend to be less than ideal. There may be adverse weather conditions or heavy traffic in an area. Knowing some tips on how to drive in these situations are useful in protecting yourself as well as others. Some may be common sense, such as slowing down when going around turn, but when they are expressed and put into practice, much good can come from them. On top of normal unideal conditions, there is the inescapable reality that human error does exist. Not everyone will drive perfectly all the time, so knowing how to drive defensively will serve you as well as your fellow drivers well in preventing more death and destruction than there needs to be. In fact, if defensive driving is done well and one has a little luck, an accident could be avoided all together!

As with any major issue facing the population, many have come forward to try the decrease the amount of deaths resulting from driving. One major solution that many prepose is making a mandatory driver’s education for all drivers. To be fair, this is not a bad solution. Compared to other countries, it is incredibly easy to get a license in the United States. In the United States, all someone would need to do is study a booklet, pass a quick quiz, and then get practice hours with a licensed adult which someone may or may not actually have done. In Germany, on the other hand, its required to take a course for driver’s education as well as have a professional driving instructor teach a student until he feels that his student is ready. All of this is quite expensive as well, so once all this is over with, that student will best not lose his or her license. While many might be quick to say, “Let’s do that here!”, it important to realize this is the German answer for the German people. Nations cannot simply cut and paste policies from one to another; The people and the cultures are too different for such a simplistic approach. This works in Germany because they already have a rigorous public transportation system that allows people to easily get around anywhere. That does not exist to that extent in America. If someone was in the countryside without public transportation, the amount of employment opportunities for those Americans would be severely handicapped. While we can look and learn from others, ultimately a solution would need to be proposed that works for our country.

One such solution would be putting infrastructures that are already in place to good use. One such infrastructure is the public school system. Many students already attend public school. Why not make it a requirement that all students must complete a driver’s ed course during their high school years when many are seeking to get their licenses? Currently within high schools, the push is to connect the skills learned in the classroom with everyday life. Within my high school, this initiative was called “Life Ready Graduate” where students had to take classes such as personal finance and civics as well as cultivate certain life ready skills in order to earn a special distinction upon graduating. A driver’s ed course could easily be applied in that direction as its immensely important to have and it affects yourself and others every day. While this could take care of the book knowledge, the practical knowledge could also be taken care of in the public school setting. After school driving sessions once weekly or biweekly could be made mandatory for each student who takes such a course. This would not replace the much-needed practice time, but rather it would enhance it, allowing for a focused time of instruction for specific scenarios. A quick critic of this idea might be the amount of labor that would be involved. A potential way to provide the labor need would be volunteers who are retired. Retirees have a wealth of knowledge to give, but many feel unheard by younger generations and as they get older, their sense of purpose dwindles. Providing opportunities for them to volunteer and invest in the lives of younger generations may provide that. In addition, some sort of tax break for those involved may provide an incentive as well. Through providing some tweaks to our driver’s ed system in the public school setting, over time the amount of deaths related to driving will decrease, but only if coupled with another initiative. One much harder to implement.

The initiative alluded to deals with the issue of focus being drained from our society. While this topic is most prevalent in discussions about smartphones, if one were to step back and examine ourselves and our culture at large, the issue is all the more pervasive. Our attention is pulled in a million different directions at any given moment whether that be through the news headlines, through mounting responsibilities, or through our smartphones. Very rarely is the topic at hand the only thing on our minds and that shows through what we do and how we do it. When do we take time to intentionally slow down and rest without distraction? I know for me personally, it is not often. This is a step that I, myself, need to continually take to help throughout my entire life, driving included. Luckily, I have been blessed to have never been in a car accident, but from time to time, I have put myself into positions that were more dangerous than it should have been due to not focusing on what I was doing. By occasionally slowing down, I can learn to focus better overall thus allowing me to be a better driver and take the things I have learned from driver’s ed. to keep myself and other safe. What good is all that important knowledge if we’ve been conditioned our entire lives to ignore it? It is like saving a ton of money but not having to discernment to use it and use it wisely. What was the point! Therefore, before our society can reduce the amount of driving related deaths, we need to take intentional steps to slow down, thus allowing our minds to recapture the gift of focus to better ourselves and the world around us.

Though it is easy to say driver’s education is important and should be implemented, it is futile if not implemented in a way that accounts for the culture at large as well as safety. Humans do not live in vacuums: they rub up against each other and splash ideas against each other. If intentional steps are taken, a culture of safe driving can be created, thus making the road a far less dangerous place. There is a level of responsibility that comes with driving a car, and it is crucial that every driver understands that and is equipped with the tools to help hold the weight of that burden. I am still learning, little by little. However, should everyone learn a little each day, one day it will add up.