Driver Education Initiative – In The Driver’s Seat

As
a fifteen year old sitting in a classroom learning about drivers
education and rules of the road, my first instict was that it’s just
another class. While I went to class every morning, I simply felt
myself going through the motions of watching videos, doing the
homework, and wearing the drunk goggles, but was I really going to
learn anything while my classmates were talking and being
distracting? The answer is no, because all everyone thought about was
the excitement of soon being able to drive on real roads without our
mom or dad in the passenger seat. I feel that most students think of
drivers ed as a class that we need to memorize rules for in
order to pass the drivers test, rather than actually learning the
rules.

Drivers
Education is important because it teaches young teenagers the rules
of the road and how critical being behind the wheel can potentially
be. It helps teach the importance of how cautious and alert you truly
need to be while sitting behind the wheel. While it is important to
understand how to operate and car and understand all the features of
it, it is also important to understand all of the rules while on the
road. Not only are those two things important, there is one more
thing that is especially important, and that is knowing how fatal car
accidents can actually be, and how quickly something can happen with
the slight turn of the wheel, or a slight eye off the road.

Within
this course, there are steps that are taught to us to reduce the
number of deaths related to driving. The first cause of death is
being on a cell phone. Each and every day there are thousands of
people who are severely injured, killed, or caused an innocent person
to die just because they felt they needed to answer that text from a
friend, or see what the lastest news is on social media. People need
to start putting phones on do not disturb while driving. If there’s
someone with you, you can give your phone to the passenger, or make
sure it is out of sight and out of reach. The second cause is drunk
driving. Many people feel that they are well enough to drive or they
are embarassed to call someone for a ride. You should never be
embarrassed to call someone, as you are saving many lives by simply
staying in the passenger seat.

Unfortunately,
I was in a car accident when I was in junior high with my mom. My mom
was driving and we were heading to my grandma’s house, when all of
a sudden we were in a small ditch. We ended up in the ditch because
my mom was distracted by the neighbor’s yard, looking to see what
they were doing, and she looked away from the road half a second too
long. Luckily, my mom nor I got severly hurt in the accident. I also
have witnessed my classmates going extremely fast and not considering
what may happen if they continue to drive and be a risk on the road.
They don’t think about anyone’s lives, including their own, and
it makes my heart ache. These scenarios taught me to be extremely
cautious, alert, and defensive while being behind the wheel.

Only
a few of the steps I can take to be better and safer drivers include:

• Putting my
  phone on do not disturb and making sure it is out of sight and out
  of reach

• Not driving
  if I am tired or if I have had a long day

• Knowing and
  staying up-to-date with the rules of the road

• Being a
  “defensive” driver

• Following
  speed limits and changes

• Not following
  close to cars in front of me in case stop light changes or a sudden
  use of breaks