Name: Vanessa Lynn Addison
From: Fairbanks, Alaska
Votes: 0
Vanessa
Lynn Addison
(907)
978-8527
Driver
Education Initiative Award
Driver
education is very important for each and every single person behind a
wheel. Knowing all the laws of the roads can solve so many accidents
and deaths that have resulted from driving mistakes or from a driver
not knowing what to do during a situation. In order to lessen the
deaths created by driving accidents, there should be mandatory
classes that need to be taken before a sixteen year old is able to
even take the driving test. This mandatory class would consist of
three driving sessions, each two hours long, where the becoming
driver will ride with a certified driving instructor. Something like
this does exist now, but it is optional for becoming drivers and
costs almost five hundred dollars after the three sessions. Instead
of that, this class would be mandatory for one to get a license in
every state and the class would cost only forty-five dollars total in
the end. This would ensure that becoming drivers at sixteen would
have been professionally trained by a certified driver, who teaches
them about the rules of the road constantly throughout the three
sessions. To also ensure the roads are safer, in order to get the
permit test, the whole test should be a longer and more strenuous
test, resulting in the test takers actually studying hard and knowing
the laws, completely, in order to pass. I have had experience in
getting in a car accident, once myself being the driver and once my
friend driving while I was in the vehicle. I live in Fairbanks,
Alaska, where in the winter the roads are full of ice and snow,
creating hard road conditions. The car accident where I was the
driver, I slid into a ditch due to not taking a full stop, in the
winter on the ice and making a left hand turn. Making this turn while
too fast on ice resulted in me sliding into the ditch next to the
road I was trying to get onto. The next accident I was in with my
friend as the driver was also during the winter, my friend was coming
onto a green light that quickly switched to yellow, she panicked at
the yellow light and pressed firmly on her brakes. Because of my
friend hitting her brakes hard on top of ice, her car spun in a full
360 and went far into the ditch. These experiences have left me with
many lessons of what not to do when driving in both the winter and
summer seasons, and on how to drive safely to prevent myself and
others from accidents. Before getting my license I did take the
driving classes we have available in Alaska and I believe this
greatly prepared me for the road. In order to keep taking steps and
bettering my driving performance, I will yearly preview the Alaska
Department of Motor Vehicles packet about all road laws and more,
just to keep myself updated with the exact laws.
