Why Doesn’t Every State Have Drivers ed?

Drivers
education is an essential part of any complete school experience. I
however, never received it because I live in Missouri. This needs to
change. I struggled behind the wheel when I got out on my own because
I was just handed a set of keys and thrown out on a highway. From
speaking to those around me, this was all too common of an
experience.

I
was in a really bad accident in college. It was one of my first times
on a major highway. I was driving back to school and was getting on
an entrance ramp to a highway on a rainy day just after it had snowed
and slightly melted. I was driving too fast because no one had ever
told me to take the entrance ramps extremely slow and my brother told
me that the values on speed limit signs on entrance ramps were too
low. I slid off the road and spun out several times in the process,
ending up in a ditch nearby. If I would have had someone proper to
teach me the rules of the road, I would have avoided this altogether.

People need to take
responsibility behind the wheel and pledge to the idea of no more
distracted driving. Long road trips or commutes to work or the store,
in my opinion, are where major accidents happen. People get bored
driving and they begin to focus on other things, like their day, or
their surroundings, or even the people in the car with them. They
begin to doze off and suddenly the person in front of them slams on
their breaks or a deer runs out in the road. People need to take
ownership for their driving and promise to stay focused on the road
when behind the wheel.

In order to be a
safer driver, I can take steps to be more responsible on the road.
The first thing I can do is watch my speedometer frequently to make
sure I am remaining close to the speed limit and allow myself enough
time to get to where I need to go so that I am not tempted to speed.
The next thing I can do to help myself and those around me is to get
people to understand that when you speed, you really don’t save
that much time, but you do put the lives of those around you at risk,
so it really isn’t worth it. The next thing I can do is give myself
space between me and the car in front of me and brake early when I
see lights on on the car in front of me in order to avoid a crash.

Driving is
dangerous and not everyone gets the opportunity to take drivers
education. However, the decisions we make behind the wheel are
entirely ours, so, despite a possible lack of education, we should
make a conscious effort to be better drivers by staying focused on
the road.