Paying Attention in Driver’s Education to Paying Attention to the Road

Driver education helps teens who have started driving learn how to stay safe on the road and avoid accidents. There are many things that driver’s education class teaches like how to drive, important signs on the road, and how to watch for others. When on the road for driving hours, many use these skills to stay safe. This might include doing full stops at stop signs and never using one’s phone while driving. One of the main causes of accidents is people not paying attention to the road. Whether this is from a distraction in the car or someone taking a peek at their phone, this can cause an accident. Driving school helps teach youth that they need to help take responsibility for this and helps make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone in the car.

There are many steps that can be taken to help lower the number of deaths related to driving. Paying attention to the road is a key detail. Pedestrians could be walking, animals could be crossing, or another car might not be looking where they are going. It is important to keep an eye, or both eyes, on the road to make sure one doesn’t get into an accident. In this step, one must not use their phone while driving, shouldn’t try to be eating or drinking on a busy road, and should not be adjusting anything inside their vehicle while driving. Doing any of these things can distract the human mind from the current task of driving safely. Another step could include spreading the word about driving deaths. Many people are more worried about something if it is becoming more likely or more deaths are happening, so it would make sense to spread awareness for this. That way, more people will become aware of the consequences of not driving safely. Especially today, it is easy to do this. Whether it’s spreading posters at school, sharing posts on social media, or just talking about it, this can help bring more awareness to driving safety and reminding others to be safe while driving.

While I haven’t gotten into an accident, I’ve had many times where I almost got into an accident due to the actions of other cars around me. One time included where another car started to pull out onto an intersection where I had a green light, and they weren’t looking for other cars. This was on a very busy road in my city. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting the person. If I hadn’t been watching, I would’ve most likely hit the person in their car. While it would’ve been their fault for pulling out too far, if I had hit them, I could’ve avoided it if I paid attention to the road. This had happened with one of my younger brothers in the car with me as well, so something could’ve happened to him since the car was on his side. Another very recent encounter included a car pulling onto the opposing side of the road and making a sharp 180, which caused the car to lose control and come spinning towards me and one of my other brothers on the other side. Because I was watching, I was able to swerve to avoid them hitting me, but it was still very scary to see them almost hit me. I do not know what the driver in that car was doing to cause the car to spin like that, but I still took action and called 911 for their safety. If I hadn’t been watching, my brother and I would both be injured from the accident, and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for not paying better attention to the road. Those two events have always had me more on my feet and eyes wider open to make sure I am not the cause of an accident like what those could’ve been.

Some ways to become better and safer drivers include always watching the road. I always stress this to my friends as well because of my experience. If one is watching the road, then one will be able to know the surroundings better and be able to take action if an accident is incoming. Another thing that driving schools stress a lot is about defensive driving, and I agree with that. There is always going to be an unsmart driver on the road, so one must be defensive and be able to avoid these drivers. While this isn’t going to be everyone on the road, it is enough to where we have to prioritize safety and looking for other’s decisions. Doing any or all of these actions will help keep everyone safe while driving on the road. I will keep my eyes on the road and my feet ready to brake for any reckless drivers coming my way.