Refresher Courses are Crucial

I can honestly state that the most excited I have been as a teenager was the exact moment that I found out I passed my driver’s test! The idea of driving to school, sporting events, and other places gave me a feeling of freedom that I never had. However, I never thought of the ramifications of driving safely until I learned that important aspect of safety in regards to driving a car during my instructional driver’s course. After learning of the different results of unsafe driving, I immediately took my driver’s education seriously. I have learned, however, that not all states require teenagers to obtain a certain amount of instructional driving hours. Some states, like Arkansas and Mississippi, do not even require mandatory driver’s instructions hours. Driver’s education is very important to complete so teenagers and adults can develop safe habits on the road. Having this skill can help many people understand what types of habits are dangerous and how they can be avoided. Bad habits are developed when you are driving over the speed limit, not using your turn signals, or doing many things at once while driving. In essence, not following the set of rules that are established to keep drivers as safe as possible. Driver’s education can help all drivers understand what are the horrible results of committing those irresponsible acts.

Driver’s education provides all types of rules that are needed to drive on the road. The basics of driving, such as coming to a complete stop at a stop sign, correct highway merging rules, or knowing what certain signs mean while driving on different types of roads are important factors that are taught in driver’s education. Understanding these types of rules can eliminate many types of road deaths.

Unfortunately, my mother was in a traffic accident due to unsafe driving habits. My mother was picking up my sister’s and cousins from school. My mother can sometimes practice unsafe driving habits! For some reason, she had a bad habit of placing numerous phone calls while she drives. However, one day while driving from picking up my huge number of sisters and cousins, she attempted to call my grandfather to let him know she could run an errand for him. While she started to dial his number, she did not notice the traffic had come to a stop and she rear-ended the vehicle in front of her. When this happened, her air bag deployed and severely burned her wrist and she got a second degree burn and a large layer of her skin was lost on her wrist. Everyone else in the car were very lucky, and we did not have any injuries. Thank goodness the other driver, also was not hurt. However, my mother’s vehicle was totaled. Not only did she have to deal with the pain and losing her skin on her wrist, she now had to deal with buying another vehicle and the new payments. My mother continually explains to me that God really protected everyone during this accident, as it could have been a whole lot worse. I thank the Lord that we can talk about that experience, and thank goodness my mother’s wrist has healed.

But unfortunately, these types of stories occur all too often. However, in my opinion, there are some efforts that can be accomplished to help everyone become a safer driver. I believe that periodic testing of some sort needs to be put in place. Some measures of additional education will help drivers with emphasizing the need for safe driving. Everyone can get complacent. Everyone can forget the small driving rules which can add to more unsafe conditions. From my small amount of time of driving, I am learning how important it is to follow the rules. But I have also come to discover that many drivers do not follow the basic rules of driving. I believe that creates many dangerous conditions. I believe that periodic testing can refresh all the small details that will make everyone better. Also, I believe this can be accomplished with minimal cost. For example, the cost can be paid through the cost of updating your license. If we all had to take a refresher course, when we renewed our driver’s license, then everyone would benefit. But also, our government can provide incentives for taking a safety driving course. I have learned that insurance companies provide discounts in insurance costs when driving courses have been taken. I believe that if additional incentives are given, more drivers would take advantage of that incentive. Also, I believe that all states should require teenage driver’s complete driver’s education courses. I was shocked when I researched that not all states require teenagers to complete some sort of course or complete a certain amount of supervised driving hours. I believe that better driving habits are learned from the beginning, but there must be a method to keep everyone educated throughout their driving history. Just like most skills, remembering the driving laws can be forgotten, and remaining up to date and vigilant is very important as well.