Learning Before Driving

In the state of Utah, every teenager is required to go through a driver’s safety course before applying for their license. This education course plays a massive part when it comes to the mortality rate of drivers, both young and old. According to the article, “Educational level and age as contributing factors to road traffic accidents” by the Chinese Journal of Traumatology in 2013, the education of an individual receives prior to the assignment of their license directly affects the mortality rate. Those who received more education, both about driving itself and in general, had a lower crash and death rate then those left uneducated. This is true for those who are living in China and all over the world. In the document itself, it shows graphs and table displaying the different percentages around the world. “1,831 people were killed, out of whom un/lowly educated people (69.6%) accounted for the highest mortality rate,” this segment is an overall view of this written piece.

There are unlimited ways to improve driver’s safety, most of them come down to the driver themselves. Even if one were to set rules, they would be useless unless they were followed to a ‘T’. Mark P. Vergnano of the National Safety Council wrote an article about simple tips a driver can use to keep themselves and other safe. In “How do we Prevent Motor Vehicle Deaths?” -by Mark- the two big ones he epiphyses on is “Never overestimate your ability to multitask,” and “Never fall prey to the belief that it can never happen to you.” Starting with the first one, he states that in thousands of people’s lives simply checking a text message has taken someone they loved. Mark even goes on to state that even the hands-free options aren’t as safe to use when driving as people think. Now concerning the phrase, “Never fall prey to the belief that it can never happen to you.” No one driver is exempt to the dangers of driving. Believing one in invulnerable to these uncontrollable forces is one major thing putting them at risk. With this belief people tend to make risky moves endangering both their life and the lives of others.

I have been in car accidents before, but nothing too dangerous has happened. Most were a little fender bender in a drive-thru or a little bump on the road. However, when it comes to driving irresponsibly, that is something I have experience with. Now, I wasn’t driving at the time. My friend was and she hadn’t taken the driver education course because she got her license at the age of 19 (its not required at that age). Whenever we hit a part of town she hadn’t been to before and there was a new traffic sign, she would just panic and guess on what to do. I would grab onto what I call the ‘Oh crap’ handle right above the window and pray to any God that was listening that I’d be okay. After a while, I entered a driver’s ed course, and I had to teach her what I was learning because if I didn’t, I feared I may die. After seeing her a few years later with better driving skills it makes me

Like I said before, there are many things that can be done when it comes to becoming a safe driver. I, myself, have taken different precautions. The one that I am working on as of now is setting the cars heating/air how I like it before I start moving. Now, it seems weird, but I had noticed while watching others drive they tend to mess with the thermostat or change the direction of the air flow. Just the other day, my dad barley missed a parked car because he was too engrossed on the fact he was a little warm. Another thing that I practice is my music. I have a big problem with always anting to control what I’m listening to. I tend to skip songs constantly because I don’t want to listen to them. How I solved this was I spent the 5 some odd dollars so I could create a playlist I wouldn’t have to manage. That little $5 cost is minimal when you realize that it gives my full attention to the road. I know these are little things and there are so much more I could be doing, I even plan on rereading the Mark P. Vergnano essay and implementing those tips and tricks about staying a safe driver.