Driving Reckless is Defenseless

Driver education is crucial to decreasing the high occurrence of car accidents each year. It is pertinent that driver education be strengthened to meet the demands of an ever-changing society. Due to the COVID pandemic, my driver education was limited to weekly zoom calls, which introduced the phenomenon of frozen computer screens and annoying feedback sounds from computer microphones. Despite these limitations, my driver’s education successfully reiterated key concepts of defensive driving, as well as the dangers of drunk driving and emotional driving. People are told to not drink while driving and to not use their phones while driving, however these lessons will truly resonate with them when they learn of victims of car accidents who drove drunk or drove while texting. My driver’s education included YouTube interviews of victims of car accidents. I believe that including more interviews of victims of car accidents in driver education curriculums will propel new drivers to be more careful on the road. In addition to in-person driving lessons, I also believe in having the Department of Motor Vehicles invest in creating virtual car simulations online so that individuals have greater access to learn how to drive as well as review key concepts of defensive driving. Perhaps one’s completion of these driver simulations could result in rebate points that individuals can use towards purchasing gas.

Knowing victims of car accidents certainly influences me to be a cautious driver. When I was a child, my father totaled the front of his car by being too close to the truck in front of him. When that truck stopped short, my dad slammed the brake, hitting the back of the truck with the front of his car. Remembering his totaled car in my family’s driveway made me more cautious of the driving distance between my car and the car in front of me. Moreover, I almost got into an accident by not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. I assumed that the opposite lane had a stop sign as well, which in my mind justified me to ignore the cars on that lane and only watch for cars on the street perpendicular to the lane I was driving in. As soon as I saw that the particular street was clear, I eased off the brakes when, suddenly, I heard a beep from the car on the opposite lane that was making a left turn to go onto the lane I was watching. Knowing that my carelessness almost caused a T-Bone accident has convinced me to always watch all lanes of traffic when I am stopped at a stop sign.

I believe a huge component of car accidents is the societal pressure to drive with our phones on. With the ability to connect your car radio to your phone, drivers are more likely to think about the song they want to play next as opposed to paying attention to the road in front of them. I believe that by instituting more traffic cops on the road, people are more apt to adhere to safer driving habits. Where I live, there are traffic cameras at practically every block which check if a car blew a red light and record if a car is maintaining the speed limit. While some people believe these cameras are annoying, I believe they are important to traffic safety because far fewer people would pass a red light or speed if they were certain that they would get ticketed for it. Not only should these traffic cameras be more widespread, I also believe in incentivizing defensive driver courses for lower car insurance premiums because more individuals would take these courses if it meant that they were getting rewarded from it, thereby exposing more individuals to defensive driving concepts.

There are several times where I am on a local street and I do not put my blinker on if I am turning. Now I realize that careless driving habits such as this are the breeding grounds for car accidents. I will start taking defensive driver courses and regularly refresh myself on the rules of the road. In addition, I will continue the habit of shutting my phone down and placing it in the backseat so I am not tempted to reach for it while driving. Finally, even when I am in a rush, I will be more respectful of the speed limit by reminding myself that it is there for my safety.

I can encourage my friends and family to be safer drivers by telling them to turn their phone ringer off so they will not get distracted, I can also tell them to go to a rest stop for some time if they feel tired from driving. Lastly, I will refrain from revealing information that could upset or enrage the driver as that can manifest into road rage. I can also refrain from rushing the driver to get to the destination quicker as that can propel the driver to driving more than the speed limit.