The Interconnected Nature of Motorists

New York State driver’s Education classes are significant to teen drivers. These classes provide instruction on the rules of the road, safe driving, and identifying potential hazards. Additionally, the program represents a blueprint to be a confident driver. Students gain driving experience by being behind the wheel under the leadership of their driver’s education instructor. These students practice negotiating and judging distances between their car and other objects using the rear and side-view mirrors and checking blind spots. When they sit in the driver’s education car with their peers, they have the opportunity to view firsthand all the potential driving situations. They can decide whether they would have handled the driving situation differently than the instructor recommends. Since driving is a skill, lots of practice is needed to become a master driver. Students are given the opportunity to parallel park, make a three-point turn, and drive in neighborhoods and traffic while obeying the rules of the road. Driver’s education instructors are sensitive to the specific behaviors of teenagers, creating an ideal situation to learn. Instructors spend countless hours during class instruction time discussing distracted and impaired driving. The use of visual aids is the best means of solidifying the paramount role that teenagers have as new drivers. Homework and class assignments reinforce the importance of safe driving as the learning expands beyond the classroom. Driver’s education helps reduce the number of deaths by reinforcing the importance of being a safe driver.

Students do not simply get into a vehicle and drive after they pass their permit test. New York mandates that they complete a driving education course or wait until their eighteenth birthday before receiving a driver’s test. First, new drivers receive in-class instruction on the importance of being a safe, responsible motorist. Students practice driving with their instructor seated next to them. They encounter all scenarios that would require maneuvering the vehicle to anticipate any situation. I believe physical instruction behind the wheel of a car is the only means to reduce the number of deaths due to reckless driving. Driver’s education students experience firsthand how to handle their vehicle and respond quickly to avoid a potential accident. Some of the steps necessary to reduce the number of driving-related deaths include requiring retesting every decade, instilling higher penalties for distracted driving, and requiring that future vehicles be equipped with enhanced safety features. Modern-day safety features are usually only located in higher-end cars, meaning that lower-income individuals are at a disadvantage. Additionally, if drivers were retested every decade instead of automatically receiving their license renewal, accidents would diminish significantly. In part, this trend is related to the reduced reaction time of the elderly. This reduction in reaction time is the cause of many preventable accidents. Furthermore, retesting forces drivers to remain committed to safe driving to ensure their driving privilege is not revoked.

Luckily, I have never been involved in a car accident. Unfortunately, my mother was involved in a severe rear-end collision seven years ago. She was on her way home from work when a distracted teenager driver failed to slow down and collided with her. This accident resulted in months of physical therapy and spinal surgery to repair the rupture of four discs in her neck. This experience changed the trajectory of her life. She was unable to work and perform daily activities for almost a year. These ailments were not the result of my mother’s irresponsible driving behavior but the effect that motorists have on each other. Driving is an activity in which every participant must be aware of the situation to ensure everyone’s safety.

There are many necessary steps to be a safer driver. Firstly, nothing is more important than the driving task meaning you should never multitask while driving. Multitasking reduces the alertness of your mind making you susceptible to preventable accidents. Drivers should always be ready to act instantaneously due to changing road conditions or the actions of other motorists. Alertness is paramount to avoiding a collision since you have time to maneuver your vehicle. Furthermore, you should never text and drive since removing your eyes from the road can increase your risk of preventable collisions. Additionally, texting takes your attention away from responsible driving habits. However, texting may seem innocent since it only lasts mere seconds; but, at a speed of sixty miles per hour, the vehicle has traveled the length of a football field. It is also paramount to maintain your vehicle since the dashboard lights are an indication of a safety concern.