Importance of Driver Awareness

Driver education has always been important, but it has become increasingly more important in today’s society. Drivers have many more distractions than they used to. Some of the distractions may include; texting, making phone calls, GPS systems, bluetooth, and more. I have been driving for about two and a half years now and the things that I witness on the road every day have taught me so many life lessons. When driving, you must know the skills in order to keep yourself safe. These skills include not only physical driving skills, but equally as important, alertness while driving. Even though you might be a good driver, others may not be, so you must be aware of your surroundings anytime you are on the road. You can have a perfect score on the written exam about the rules on the road, but that doesn’t mean much if you don’t have common sense and awareness while driving.

Ever since I was young, I have been an observant person. This trait has helped me as a driver because I am always aware of my surroundings. I am good with directions, I can spot wrecks, lights, and stop signs that are far away, and I am aware of what other cars around me are doing. I was involved in a few fender bender accidents as a kid. When they happened, my parents remained calm and taught me how to handle those types of situations. A few weeks ago, I was involved in my first car accident as a driver. It was a rear end collision. It was a cold, dark, and rainy night. I was sitting in traffic, when all of a sudden, a car slammed into the back of my car, hitting me so hard that my entire body flew forward. We were on a two lane road, and I was in so much shock that I did not know what to do even though I was taught what to do. I immediately called my mom and she told me to stay put, but the traffic started moving and I was worried about blocking the road, so I turned left thinking the car would follow me. My first accident ended up as a hit and run! They did not follow me and kept driving straight ahead, fleeing from the scene. I knew this was not the right thing for me to have done in that situation, but I was making assumptions that the car who hit me would be responsible enough to own up to their actions and follow me. Next time, I know that I need to stay put no matter where I am and call for help. Now I know what to do and I can also easily teach family and friends how to handle accidents like this.

Not only have I been involved in wrecks, but I have also been in the car with and seen others driving irresponsibly. One of the main things that I will always remember is being in the car with someone who drove with their knees because they were too busy trying to send a text. Even though I did not know how to drive at the time, I knew this was completely unacceptable. This could cause a bad wreck as your eyes would be glued to something other than the road and also have no grip on the steering wheel. Not only does this put the driver in danger, but it also puts the passengers in danger. It started off happening just one time, and then, as they got more comfortable doing it, it progressively became a very bad habit more. I have learned from their mistakes as I have never even attempted this. It does not matter how skilled you are or how long you have been driving, this is never reasonable to do while on the road.

The Greenville News states, “South Carolina’s traffic deaths rose by 26 percent from 1994 to 2020, marking the biggest increase by any state over those 26 years.” There are many steps people can take that are beneficial to reducing the amount of deaths related to driving. For instance, in South Carolina the driving course is helpful when teaching young drivers the correct driving skills. This course shows students how to drive responsibly and correctly. It gives drivers confidence and helps them become more skilled on the road. Although this course is very important to take to learn the basic skills of driving, I believe that along with the driving classes, lessons, and tests, instructors should focus a lot more on teaching drivers how to be aware of what is going on around you. This will help these new drivers not just be focused on how fast they are going or how to parallel park, but also on how to be observant and aware of what is happening on the road around them. I truly believe that being aware of your surroundings is one of the most crucial parts of learning to drive. This will help prevent wrecks and is beneficial to keeping yourself and others safe on the road. In order to become a better driver, I can start leaving places earlier so that I am not in a rush and can drive more carefully. The SC Department of Public Safety states, “In 2022, 1,035 people died on SC roads . . .” This fact proves that we need to do a better job of promoting driver awareness and get these numbers down! I believe with more help and more awareness on the road, we can be successful at bringing these numbers down and making the roads safer for everyone.