Respect the Road

Driver’s Education is vital to the prevention of driving-related deaths. It informs teens and learning drivers of how the road works, as well as enforcing safe habits. In order to promote a safer and improved driving experience for Americans, we must recognize the problems that exist before it. Such problems include driving under the influence, distracted driving, and uninformed driving.

Driver’s Education teaches both teen drivers and new drivers the basics of driving, road safety, and general traffic rules. It teaches great driving techniques such as the 3 second buffer rule, which is great at preventing rear-end collisions. Driver’s Education also demonstrates the danger of DUIs and texting while driving. We should strive to make a more demanding educational experience for drivers. Grading should be harsher in order to promote a better understanding of driving as a whole. This is because having a complete understanding of how the road works is important. Personally, I have had some difficulty in my driving experience trying to understand general right-of-way rules. I could never remember, nor understand who was supposed to go first at a two way stop signs. This was before I knew that unmarked intersections existed, which made the driving world even more beyond understandable for me. However, after some many nights of watching YouTube tutorial videos and highlighting my BMV brochure, I slowly began to adapt and become comfortable with the rules of the road, because I had finally had a full understanding of the topic with the help of my driver’s education.

In addition to general driver’s education, it is to the best benefit of the student that their parent or guardian assist them in their driving journey. Parents serve as a natural role model for a child’s learning, so it is straightforward that a parent should be there to help a teen or learner driver in their journey. Parental absence can create bad habits such as distracted driving. If a teen does not get much help from their parents, it can create a false sense of independence, and it won’t truly reveal how dangerous uninformed driving can be. Having an understanding parent can make a teen less anxious about driving. Too much stress or anxiety can cause a hate or disliking for driving, which may be a source for a future accident. It is vital that parents act like role models for a teen. They should also exercise undistracted driving to show their child how to be safe. I had an okay experience with my dad while driving, although I did most of the research by myself. I am a person who usually has to have a complete understanding of a topic in order to be comfortable with it. My experience with my driving instructor, however, was not so pleasant. He was a middle-aged man, with a broad face. My first lesson with him was okay, disregarding my incident of almost driving on the wrong side of the road due to my inexperience. I slowly got better at driving, but the yelling and the feeling that I was worthless because I kept making mistakes caused a lot of pain for me. Parental guidance truly is important in regard to learning to drive. I also recall the time when I got in my first car accident, with my father being the driver. He was turning left to make a u turn in the middle of the road when someone waved him on. He then crashed into a car he did not see. Luckily, no one was hurt, except my dad’s bumper which was totally destroyed. I think a better understanding of driving would have prevented my dad from getting into that accident. Maybe he would have checked a little more before turning.

Learning self-control as well as making good decisions is important to the prevention of accidents. In January of 2021, The Zebra association reached out to American drivers to get a better understanding of the habits they partake in behind the wheel. According to the Zebra association, 52.5% of people reporting eating while driving. In addition, 23.6% of people said that they had texted while driving, as well as 11.7 said they took photos behind the wheel. One distraction that is not talked about enough is people. A teen having friends in their car within the first few months of their driving journey can cause reckless habits and distractions. Even these such things can cause accidents. Even worse, the State of Indiana (which I reside in) reported that there were 858 drunk driving related accidents in 2021. This is a horrible tragedy that must be addressed in order to promote a safer driving experience for everyone.

Drivers around the nation should take the task upon themselves to raise awareness for the prevention of drunk and distracted driving in the US. Improvements such as increased focus on Drivers Education, increased focus on dui prevention, increased focus on prevention of distracted driving, and increased focus on parental interaction should all be tended to. It is for the common good of the country that driving-related deaths are prevented, to promote a better system of travel for our nation.