In the Driver’s Seat

Mark Twain has a very funny, but disturbing quote about education. He states, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education,” sadly there is probably no better quote on the dangers of driving in the United States (US) than this. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) there is an average of 34,000 deaths due to traffic accidents. Some of these deaths the drivers themselves were at fault, but tragically many were victims of drivers making poor decisions. Even sadder, 62% of all drivers in the US have taken a driver education course according to NHTSA, which translates that a great percentage of these drivers that caused these deaths had taken driver’s education courses. Many of these people were schooled on how to drive, but failed to be educated on safe driving

As a teacher, getting my students to use what I have taught them is a true measure of education. By getting students to use what they have learned in these driver education programs is the key to reducing traffic fatality. I have been in two car accidents in my life and both should not have happened if proper driving strategies were followed. Both accidents, one being my fault, were caused because we failed to keep the proper distance between cars on the roads. If I or the person who hit me, followed the two second rule between cars these accidents would never have happened. I and probably the other driver were schooled on the two second rule, but failed to be educated on this valuable lesson.

In order to reduce traffic fatalities all drivers need to accomplish the two following tasks. First, all drivers need to take a driver’s education course. Second, and even more important, drivers need to use the skills and the lessons taught to become safer drivers. Educating drivers on proper driving skills and getting them to use this knowledge would greatly reduce fatalities. The absence of using the lessons taught in these courses and the lack of people who have never taken a drivers education course is the reason why we average so many deaths and accidents in the United States. This is the challenge that driver education programs have, not enough students take these courses and the ones that do forget to use the lesson they learned.

Drivers education course, with no exceptions for anyone, should be the first strategy that states need to implement to reduce traffic fatality. Every person who is seeking a driver license must take an educational course. This will guarantee that all people would have been presented with the lessons and skills on how to be a safe driver. If every state implements a program with the same education standards and lessons this would allow people to freely move throughout the country without having to take a new course for each state. The states that do not implement these driver education courses, their drivers will need to complete one when moving to a state that requires a course.

The second strategy would be to require all new drivers to be part of an apprentice program for at least two years. As insurance companies have developed safe driving monitors for safe driving discounts, it would be easier to transfer this technology to an apprenticeship period where all new drivers have to use these monitors to re-enforce/make sure all drivers are using the skills and the lessons that were taught in their driver education course. When a future driver completes the driver education course and passes the state driving exam, the driver will then be enrolled in an apprentice program for the next two years, where they will be given a monitor along with a temporary driver’s license. The apprentices that fail to be a safe driver and make poor driving decisions according to their monitor will have to take remediation classes and begin their apprenticeship period again. With the apprenticeship program the skills and lessons that they learned in their drivers educational courses will immediately be implemented and by doing this for a couple of years, hopefully these skills and lessons will be used forever.

The use of these safety monitors through my insurance company helped me make better decisions by forcing me to use the lessons and skills that I learned in my driver education courses. The monitor has helped me identify when I have made poor choices. With the aid of this monitor I have stopped (or greatly reduced) my accidental speeding and the elimination of my rolling stops If all new drivers after they have been instructed on how to be a safe driver had to use these safe driving monitors within the apprenticeship period they will be a safe driver for the rest of their lives greatly reducing traffic fatalities.