The Road and You

In a matter of seconds, a life can be taken from a distracted or an unprepared driver. Many people who obtained their license went through a driver’s education course, but how many of those students actually apply what they have learned in order to remain safe for theirs and others sake? It is a well set up system. In order to get a license, one must go through a driver’s education course and yes, it is very important. In these classes one takes, they learn everything from the different road signs to the different parts of the car’s engine. In most cases, the student must also participate in a minimum number of hours of observational driving which allows them to get some experience of safe driving practices that they can apply once they are on the road themselves. With the combination of the lessons taught inside the classroom, the lessons an instructor gives in the vehicle, and the student’s application of what they have been taught in driver’s education will drastically cause a decline in the number of deaths resulting from distracted and defenseless driving. 

Many times, in my life I have been in a car with someone who was driving irresponsibly. One example is my own family member. My aunt rarely wore her seatbelt, was always on her phone, and her rear-view mirror was adjusted so she could see herself and not the traffic behind her. Now, I have never gotten into an accident with her being at the wheel, but because of the practices she had whilst driving, she put anyone in the car with her at a high risk of death from a collision. There are times where other drivers on the road can put your safety at risk because they are not paying attention. One time I was in the car with my family and in the lane next to us, the person driving was not mindful that we were coming up on the side of his vehicle. He started to change into our lane while we were next to his car. We were able to get the driver’s attention, but had we not, it was an accident waiting to happen. 

Aside from remembering to always wear a seatbelt, driver’s education courses teach students five main steps they can take not only to reduce the number of deaths from driving but keep them as well as others safe on the roads. The first step is to make sure the tire pressure is right, all mirrors and seats are adjusted properly towards the driver, and that headlights and brake lights are all functioning properly. If one of the bulbs is blown out one has a higher chance of getting into a collision. For example, if your brake lights are out, cars will not know if you are slowing down, which can cause a collision from behind, and if your headlights are out whilst driving at night, it is much harder for cars to see your vehicle. Both of these situations can put you at a much higher risk of collision and even death. The next step is if you need to use a GPS for any reason, make sure your destination is input before the car is in motion. If during your trip you need to put directions into a GPS, pull over to a safe spot, park the car, and proceed to input the directions and then safely proceed on your route. This also applies to music as well. Abstain from messing with the music whilst driving. Pulling over and putting the car in park makes sure that all of your attention is focused on one task, so when you start driving you can now put all of your attention back onto the road. To ensure you have maximum concentration on the road, make sure to keep the music level low enough to where you can hear what is going on around you. The next step is one of the most important. Keep your cell phone away from you. Many deaths on the road are from drivers who look down at their phone instead of keeping their attention to the road. The final step is once your concentration is on the road, make sure to watch your surroundings carefully. Just because you may be driving safely does not mean the driver two cars behind you is. Keep an eye out for cars that swerve in and out of lanes, or if multiple cars have their brakes lights on in front of you, start slowing down to lower the risk of having to hit your brakes to avoid collisions. Also, remember that all driver’s have blind spots. Be mindful of your distance in relation to other cars especially if you are driving a truck or large SUV. Failure to check blind spots is another way bad accidents happen. When all these steps are applied this will help myself, as well as other teenagers and adults, drive much safer on the road.

There are many events that can cause an accident, but in driver’s education courses, trained instructors teach students helpful ways to prevent accidents which in return reduces the number of deaths by driving. If everybody, teens and adults alike, applied what is being taught in driver’s education courses, the road truly will be much safer.