The Importance of Educating those in the driver’s seat

Jonah Macdonald

DmvEdu

DmvEdu Scholarship

May 2^nd 2021

The Importance of Educating those in the Driver’s Seat

There is a great importance on the education of drivers from a young age, and right

up until we age out. Retests, checkups, all of it. There should be a much larger emphasis on

infrastructure that promotes safe driving, things like adequate lighting and proper guard rails

and barriers. Allow me to highlight a statistic from ICBC. (British Columbia’s only

insurance option) Speed notwithstanding, distracted and high-risk driving holds the highest 5

year average in the province. I believe this highlights a lack of education on just how

dangerous operating a motor vehicle can be. The same restrictions are placed on pedal bikes,

such as no intoxication, no distracted operation, cyclists need to know how to signal without

lights to do so. Yet many are able to get a driver’s license after just a few tests. Did you know

that if you get a learner’s license in British Columbia and let it expire you are required to take

the test again? On the other hand, if you have managed to get your full license, or even a

novice license you are able to renew for a small fee with no test of your abilities whatsoever.

In what world does that make any sense? Furthermore, when getting an eye test initially for a

license, why not retest people’s vison before going back out on the road? Personally, I hold the

belief that all drivers should be tested and educated much more rigorously before they are

allowed to get behind the wheel again. This would serve to reduce the number of deaths seen

from drivers that aren’t focusing or are under the influence.

I myself have experienced both an accident that I am lucky to have survived; as well as

family members and friends that have driven recklessly. The accident was when I was 8 or 9 I

believe. My friend’s step-father was driving me home after a day of hanging out and on the way

home we were struck by a drunk driver in a head on collision. We were in a lifted Ford Ranger

and the man that hit us (I remember his name still, Vandermort) was in a significantly smaller

vehicle. (a civic maybe?) Our truck went up the front of his vehicle, caving in the driver’s side

tire in the process and we slid about 150 ft up the road. My friend and I were lucky to have

suffered no major injuries, but our driver was in a neck brace for six months. The drunk driver

had a broken wrist, after our truck had caved in his car completely. My guess was that the

alcohol kept his body relaxed during the crash. This was a very terrifying experience and

definitely one of the reasons I don’t have a full license to this day.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve also had family and friends drive recklessly.

I had an uncle that took us to a show in Vancouver, and on the way back to his place up

Highway 1; he and his wife got into a fight while my mom and I were in the back seat.

The vehicle he was driving was a decommissioned police cruiser that he had yet to

remove the child locks from in the back. We spent the next 2 hours going 130+ km around

blind corners in a canyon while my uncle and aunt fought, and if we crashed the only way we

could get out would be smashing out the windows. The friend I was referring to was more of an

acquaintance at the time that came to pick me up after work for a party. After I got off, we all

got in his car and pulled onto the main road. We get into a turn lane and as the light turns green

he turns around and says “Oh by the way I’m really drunk” and proceeded to careen through

the light and hit 100km in a 60km zone. I honestly thought I was going to die, and I was so

upset it hadn’t been mentioned prior to my getting in the vehicle. I felt as though they were

gambling with my life.

I believe the steps I can take to be better driver would be to educate myself as much

as I can. Go to a driving school instead of learning habits from other drivers around me, clearly

they would not be good habits. I should scold others for disobeying driving laws, saying nothing

helps no one and could lead to an accident if that behavior isn’t changed or corrected. That’s not

to say everyone needs to be perfect, human error is called that for a reason. But we should

want to do better because it benefits everyone.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this contest!

Works Cited

ICBC, Statistics ( https://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/newsroom/Pages/Statistics.aspx ) last accessed May 2nd 2021

Contributing Factors, Tableau public ( https://public.tableau.com/profile/icbc#!/vizhome/QuickStatistics-Contributingfactors/Contributingfactors )Last Accessed May 2nd 2021