Drivers Education, a Prominent Component of Safety

After completing preliminary research and remembering taking my own drivers ed course, I can tell you this much. Driving is amongst the riskiest things in life. The number of deaths in 2021 from driving is over 30,000 and the number grows almost every year. This leads me to think a lot about risk taking when I drive. Everyone contemplates sliding through that stop sign, speeding through the yellow light, or following the car in front of them too close. Although they may seem like small everyday occurrences, the contemplations can easily result in huge consequences and regret. Now that I have been driving for two years, I can safely say that the driver’s education I completed before I got in the driver’s seat is something I am incredibly grateful for and use every day.

I vividly remember reading and being quizzed on how many deaths there were each year from car accidents. The numbers have changed given that it was three years ago, but the gravity still resonates. However, what stuck with me the most was the informational videos I had to watch. Don’t worry, they weren’t gruesome or meant to be rated restricted. They made me emotional. Some say that I’m just an emotional person, but the idea that thousands of people die each year due to drunk driving, texting and just violating traffic laws doesn’t and won’t ever sit right with me. Driver’s education is extremely helpful for learning basic traffic laws, but the facts and information on how to really stay safe on the roads is the most important component of what I learned.

One thing that I have taken a liking to in my driving journey is driving my friends. I carpool because of its efficiency and accessibility. Carpooling is especially great for me because it provides a check and balance system for me and my loved ones driving techniques. Driving with my parents and close friends in the car offers a space for them to check my driving habits and for me to check theirs. For example, a close friend of mine once mentioned that I tend to drive over the speed limit in neighborhoods and it makes him nervous sometimes. Like I said, I’m a sensitive person so it took some motivation for me to get past what I thought was criticism, but within a couple weeks I noticed it too. After I had noticed this mistake on my own, I started to fix the habit immediately. I think that driving with others once it is safe is a really great way to advocate for drivers safety and later reduce the number of deaths while driving.

When I was 11, me and my parents were on our way home during a snowstorm. It was about a two hour drive and it was late at night. I was falling asleep in the back of the chevy Suburban with only the lab belt across my waist in the middle seat. I was also lying across all three seats so the seatbelt was extremely loose. As I was finally starting to drift off, I heard my dad from the front seat start to scream. I sat up quickly and when I looked out the windows it was hard to tell what was happening. All I could see were streaks of street lights and snowflakes. The car had spun around several times in conjunction with hitting the guard rail on the side of the highway. After all of the spinning, the accident ended with the car sliding in to a ditch and next to the service road. This experience could easily be categorized as the scariest of my life. The accident began because of an icy bridge. I’m sure many of us have seen the signs that warn of bridges having icy conditions, but it is something I stress you pay attention to. This condition happens to bridges in cold weather because there is cold air flowing underneath instead of ground. As someone who lives in Colorado, driver’s education was extremely important for learning about conditions like this. Now I find that I am a confident and cautious driver in the snow because of the extra lengths my driving instructors took to teach me.

I see myself as a constant learner, especially when it comes to driving because of changing environments and road conditions. Everytime I get in my car, or a different car, I try to latch my seatbelt before the car even turns on. That car accident when I was 11 would have been much worse if I didn’t have the lap belt across my waist. I also continuously think back to what I learned during my drivers education courses and time with my instructors. Their wisdom and teaching is truly why I think of myself as a safe and responsible driver. Driver’s education is the most important aspect of learning how to drive, and is not something anyone should skip before finding themselves in the driver’s seat.