Name: Aldous Long
From: Broomfield, Colorado
Votes: 0
Aldous
Long
Grade
12
Driver
Education Essay
In
the United States, there are roughly thirty-four thousand vehicle
deaths per year. Youth drivers are extremely susceptible to vehicle
accidents and in terrible circumstances, are susceptible to being
killed in a vehicular accident. Many high schoolers are new to
driving, and even with having to drive over forty hours on public
roads, including driving at night and on the highways, many teenagers
will fake their time just so they can get their license on time, but
will also learn bad driving habits from siblings, parents, or
friends. If we as a people, as parents, and as students learning to
drive, taking extra time to learn life saving techniques such as
defensive driving, not texting and driving, not drinking and driving,
but also teaching students that when you see someone who is texting,
or drinking while driving, or driving aggressively towards other
drivers, to contact help hotlines posted on billboards on the
highway, or to contact local law enforcement and report the
individual and let them handle it. Teaching these techniques to
today’s youth can be life saving. It may not be their life, but it
could very well be another person’s life they saved by doing the
right thing. The importance of drivers ed in teens saves lives,
it can save their life on the road, and can save another person’s
life.
Many
factors play into deaths in auto accidents. Many of them are human
error, but some fault does lay within the auto manufacturer.
Companies building vehicles have started to fix issues that can lead
to fatal accidents, such as weight distribution to prevent rolls,
tougher material to prevent extreme damage to the cabin of the
vehicle, as well as better airbags to prevent serious injury to the
driver and passengers. These measures can be life saving however in
many cases, those changes and safety features are untilized
accidentley due to human error. Parents, law enforcement agenicies,
and schools need to take extra steps to get the point of safe driving
across the minds pf today’s teen drivers. Holding classes,
seminars, and presenations with proof and pictures of the even fatal
consequences of texting, drinking, or being aggressive while driving,
will motivate today’s teen drivers as well as parents and other
adults to drive safely, for their own well being, and that of the
other people around them.
In
the past I have most definitley seen bad driving habits. The most
common I see between friends, parents, and other family is texting
and driving. Some of my friends and family have turned to hands free
devices which are much safer to utilize when taking calls and
changing music and any other utility you may need your phone for
while in the car. There have been instances before hands free
technology came around where parents were texting while driving and
did make it very unsafe, from swerving to correct a gradual lean into
another lane, to holding up traffic because as they text, they stop
accelerating or maintaining speed, to slamming on the brakes and
alsmost rear-ending someone or being rear-ended by someone behind us.
Personally,
paying more attention to other drivers are the number one thing I can
do to become a safer driver. I never use my phone while driving
unless it is for a phone call, in which case, I know if someone is
calling me, it is extremely serious. Helping others to not use their
phone is a priority. I always tell my friends to pay attention and
get off of their phones when they are driving, and to help them, I
always help keep an eye out for anything potentially dangerous they
may not see. These small things are steps I take to ensure that I
can be safe behind the wheel but also that the people are care for
are safe, with or without me in the vehicle.
