Let’s stop reckless driving

The United States is one of the easiest countries to obtain a driver’s license. Some US states allow even 14-year-olds to sit behind the wheel of a vehicle. While some mandatory hours of driver’s education are required for people under the age of 18 applying for a driver’s license, those over that age do not need to complete any mandatory driving hours beside the practice hours with another driver that are not monitored or controlled. Therefore, some people with zero driving experience can skip driver’s education and still pass the driving test if they luck out on it. The lack of structure in educating new drivers on safe driving practices is the reason why so many car accidents and deaths resulting from it happen in the US every day. That is why it should be required to complete driver’s education hours with a professional educator before taking a driver’s test.

Driver education does not only teach us how to use a car but more importantly, it educates us about traffic laws, signs, and how to be a safe and responsible driver. Therefore, people who learn how to drive from a friend or a parent do not always get the same amount of knowledge and experience that they would’ve with a professional educator since not everyone has the ability to instruct others about safe driving. In contrast to the United States, most other countries require formal driving education for all people, regardless of their age. I believe this should be the case for our country too, because what difference does it make whether the person applying for a license with no previous experience is under or over 18 years old? They both need the same level of education because the fact that one person might be more mature than the other does not necessarily equate to their driving abilities.

The extremely high number of deaths caused by car accidents is highly related to the reckless driving of people who never completed mandatory driver education. Therefore, the United States should change the requirements for obtaining a driver’s license and start requiring at least six formal driver education hours from everyone. It’s the same number of hours that teenagers in California need to complete before starting to practice driving legally with their parents or other drivers, therefore, it should be the requirement for other drivers as well. Another thing that needs to be changed in our driving education system is to put more emphasis on educating new drivers about the importance of sober driving and avoiding distractions, like texting while driving. Unfortunately, a lot of accidents result from drunk driving and this is especially common among young people. Using alcohol and drugs almost always results in reckless and unsafe driving and that is why it’s important to inform new drivers about the risk associated with it as well as make them aware of the penalties resulting from being caught under the influence during formal driving education. This is why I think that the police should perform a breath test during routine stops as well as when an accident takes place. It is a common practice in other countries, and it should be a part of our traffic system as well because if drivers were aware that they could get breathalyzed at any time, it would prevent them from driving a car under the influence in the first place.

No one should experience being a passenger in a car driven by a drunk driver. Unfortunately, I have been multiple times as a child and it is something that I definitely wouldn’t let happen now. As a child, I did not have much to say when my father drove his car after having multiple drinks, moreover, I did not realize that it was wrong and illegal. When I think about it now, I can see that I have been put in danger of reckless driving many times in my life, which is why I feel strongly about doing anything to prevent that from happening to me and those who I care about in the future. I have also seen many people on the roads, including my friends, who use their phones while driving. Some people do not consider texting while driving dangerous, however, it only takes a second to get distracted and put oneself as well as everyone else in the car and around it in danger.

The main step that we can take to be safer drivers, is to make sure that we won’t get distracted by our phones while driving. A good way to reduce the risk of creating traffic danger by using a phone is to obtain a car phone stand, which would allow us to have the phone at an eye-level instead of looking down at it. An even better approach is possible in most of the newer cars which allow handless hands-free calling and texting. We can also promote the importance of driver education among our friends and family and support it by the data showing the likelihood of being involved in a car accident caused by reckless driving. It goes without saying that we also can never let a person under the influence drive a car. Drunk and narcoticized people have poor judgment skills and often do not realize the danger associated with operating a vehicle but we can prevent it by offering them a ride or arranging other types of transport to home. It might not be something that a lot of people want to be involved in but it can save a life or even multiple lives.