Driver Education Initiative – Safe Driving

In today’s world, cars are everywhere, used to get people from
place to place; home to school to work. With so many people on the
road, it’s very important that people learn to operate their
vehicles properly and follow road rules. Responsible driving can
drastically reduce the number of driving related deaths, would reduce
experiences like my own with being even the passenger of a drunk
driver, and there are plenty of ways I and everyone else can achieve
safer roads for the future.

With the amount of
cars on the road these days, knowing how to drive safely and properly
is integral to preventing driving-related deaths. Without the
knowledge drivers ed gives someone, they would undoubtedly
be unprepared for the experiences they’d have on the road,
unprepared for the challenges they will face driving along with other
people. A parent or other adult driver can only really do so much in
terms of teaching a new driver, and many are too nervous to in the
first place. This means the best way to learn to drive is through a
drivers ed class. If they take such a class before doing
any serious driving, new drivers will have more of a sense of
preparedness, be more confident drivers, and be far less likely to
make fatal errors in actual traffic. These factors combined mean the
roads will be safer and less driving related deaths will occur than
if less new drivers were to skip drivers ed.

One of the topics
covered in these drivers ed courses is driving under the
influence, a danger I have experienced firsthand. As someone who
hasn’t managed to obtain their driver’s license yet, I was not
the drunk driver, but I was the lone passenger. I attended a company
holiday party with my dad last year and where there was alcohol, and
my mom had given us permission to get an uber the forty five minute
drive home. The issue came when every uber driver assigned to us
backed out because of the long drive late at night. We were stuck at
the party venue without a way home short of my dad driving us while
very drunk. With my only options being stay at the darkened tennis
complex all by myself in the December night air or get in the car
with my dad, I took the warmer option, the one that would get me home
faster, and got in the passenger’s seat. The resulting ride was
only half the time it should have been thanks to his driving over the
limit and I was terrified of every lane change, every light that
might be blown through, every turn that may have been taken too fast.
I arrived at home safely, but every friend I had had been notified
that I was being driven home by a drunk adult in case I did not
survive the terrifying ordeal. I am very grateful that the worst case
scenario was not my reality, and I am convinced hearing stories like
this and worse are important for people learning to drive through a
drivers ed program.

Certainly there are
many more stories like mine, as well as worse ones, and we need to do
something about them. As a society we need to condemn driving under
the influence and learn to avoid situations where we are riding with
drunk drivers. We should be attending drivers ed to learn
the rules of the road and then taking the lessons we learn there
seriously. We should be keeping our attention on the road when we
drive and encouraging our loved ones to as well. We need to motivate
ourselves and others to be responsible drivers to keep our roads safe
and reduce the amount of driving related deaths.

This is why
drivers ed is so important. Learning to drive correctly
will reduce deaths on the road. Hopefully in attending driver’s
education we will reduce reckless driving like I have witnessed. We
should be encouraging each other to drive safely, and that’s what
drivers ed does for our newest drivers. Driver’s
education is important in reducing driving-related deaths, and
hopefully it continues to for every generation here on.