Safety First

Driving is one of the most dangerous activities a person does in their daily lives. There are so many consequences ranging from citations, lawsuits, to possibly death. In fact, the current rate for deaths per 100,000 population due to motor vehicle accidents is 11.9 today. To prevent these accidents from occurring it is important new drivers understand the precautions of the road. As a result of this, drivers’ education teaches new drivers the “dos and don’ts” of the road. Drivers education shows students the most important things to the smallest things people forget, such as staying four seconds behind a car when on the freeway. The meticulous rules driver’s education teaches kids can prevent them from causing a car accident. Furthermore, some steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is making drivers education a required class. By doing this, all new drivers will have to go through multiple classes of driving instructions and experience than taking one driving test to get a driver’s license. This will not only increase the students’ knowledge of the road, but also give them more experience in driving and certain situations with an adult to help them. For example, students receiving help in accident prone environments. Drivers ed goes through parallel parking, three-point turn parking, malfunctions of car, and improves reaction and judgment to unexpected situation. In essence, drivers education teaches a wide variety of things most parents do not know to teach. Studying for the written portion of the driver’s test and going through one twenty-minute drivers test is not the most effective way to prepare teens for driving safely on the road. Studies have shown that driver education has reduced crashes by 4.3% and convictions by nearly 40%. This research shows how effective drivers’ education has been in reducing the number of accidents committed by teens. This is huge because an average of nine teens ranging from 16-20 years old die from motor vehicle injuries every day. Therefore, there will be less deaths from driving accidents because teens will be better equipped for the road. Another way to reduce the number of fatalities on the road is by making the advancements in smart cars standard features in all cars. These safety features reduce the number of accidents that happen on the road. They do so by warning and signaling when something is about to hit or happen to the car. In addition, some cars will completely take over the car steering wheel and pedals if there is an approaching catastrophe. Unfortunately, these extra safety precautions in smart cars are more expensive than cars without them. To continue preventing the number of fatalities from car accidents, the advancements in smart cars should not cost significantly more. New drivers tend to get cheaper cars because they are more accident prone. When in reality, new drivers should be getting cars with more advancements to help them drive safely. Personally, I was in a car accident when I was 16 years old, and it happened two weeks after I got my license. Thankfully, the accident did not injure anyone, and it was a parking accident. I was going way to fast when I was pulling in to park my car and I hit their drivers rear end. I had to find the people who owned the car and waited for them in the parking lot. I was devastated and felt so bad, I was being wreck less and not taking the turn in slow like I know I should have. Fortunately, the owners were nice and understanding, which made me feel a little better about the accident. From this experience, I learned that I need to park further away from cars and just walk farther until I become better at parking with time. My mom took me out to an empty lot for additional help so this would not happen again. In addition to that, I learned how slow I need to go when parking my car and that there is no reason to go so fast in any situation. Since then, I have remembered this lesson and have not been involved in any more accidents. I want to take this knowledge to indirectly help others on the road by always paying attention so if someone makes a mistake, I will recognize it and avoid the collision. Not only to have to be accountable for myself on the road, but everyone else driving around me as well. To help others become better drivers, I can be fully aware of my surrounds and attempt to avoid collisions with them instead of being blind-sided and causing a car accident.