The Importance of Drivers ed

Driver
Education Initiative Award: In the Driver’s Seat

April
5, 2018 started the same as any other day of high school for me.
Class, tennis practice, choir rehearsal, then I was home free. After
I was done at school my mom came to pick me up as she usually would.
We were halfway down the school road, knee deep in conversation when
we were rear ended by reckless teenagers from my school. Fortunately,
no one was harmed in the accident, but the accident opened my eyes to
the dangers of the road and also informed me of just how ignorant
teens can be when it comes to safe driving habits.

When
my mom left the car to assess the damage from the accident, she saw
that the driver and passengers were sophomores from my high school.
Judging from their grade level and age, it was apparent that the
teenagers lacked education on safe driving practices. They weren’t
aware that as fun as it may be to blast music with your friends with
the windows down, that isn’t the safest way to drive and it
actually poses as a distraction to the driver. That type of safety
isn’t taught in school so the first step in reducing the number of
driving related deaths is to provide proper in-depth driver and
passenger education.

In
school we are taught about distractions behind the wheel such as
drinking or texting, but we are never really taught about more common
distractions such as loud music and dancing while driving. If
teenagers were to receive knowledge about those types of
distractions, then a majority of car accidents involving teenagers
would be less likely to happen. Along with proper education, knowing
the risks and statistics involved with driving is very important and
could help make people more cautious. I will admit that before
completing this essay I didn’t even know that U.S. highway
fatalities exceed the rate of combat related war deaths. This type of
education would most definitely cause teens to pay attention more
while driving so that they won’t contribute to the rate of highway
fatalities.

While
education in school is vital in reducing driving related deaths,
other personal measures can be taken. I can lead by example and
exercise good driver and passenger habits while in the car. I can
also inform my friends and family members of how poor driver and
passenger habits can contribute to the already high rate of driving
related fatalities. Encouraging a friend of mine to tell a friend of
theirs and so on will help keep the cycle of education going so that
more and more people are made aware of the importance of safe
driving.