Name: Blake Pritchard
From: Colorado Springs, CO
Votes: 0
Driver
education is vitally important in the reduction of the number of
deaths caused by driving. In my hometown of Colorado Springs,
pedestrians are very much at the mercy of bad drivers. This city has
a reputation for distracted or competitive driving, which is why
fatal car crashes have increased over the last three or four years.
In fact, research has found that Colorado Springs residents tend to
go ten miles per hour over the speed limit on average1.
Bikers and pedestrians should be given better protection, though this
is mainly something the drivers themselves must do since the laws
apparently aren’t working very well. If laws won’t advocate
driver safety, then perhaps the statistics will. From 2016 to 2018,
an estimated total of 120 people died in automobile accidents in
Colorado Springs alone. Of these 120 fatalities, some 36 involved
pedestrians or bikers, and the number is steadily increasing2.
These numbers are enough to scare anyone, driver or wanderer. Making
such data available and using it to educate the public can make
citizens more aware of their driving and the effect it has on
pedestrian protection as well as their own.
Pedestrians
aren’t the only ones at risk, however. My sophomore year, a great
number of my friends and I were on a bus home from a late-night band
competition. It was somewhere around ten or eleven o’clock at
night, so it was dark and hard to see. The bus was making a right
turn off of a busy intersection and before we knew what was
happening, we were soon greeted with the sound of crunching metal.
The bus had T-boned a small red car. Though this may seem like a
fault of the bus driver, it was actually the fault of those in the
car, because they were driving without their lights on. Thankfully,
nobody got seriously injured; the bus wasn’t going fast enough to
crush those within the car, and a few of the students on the bus got
whiplash and/or some bruises but nothing needing immediate medical
attention. Still, the red car was pretty much totalled, and a lot of
parents were very worried that night. If only the car had had their
lights on while driving in the dark!
Occasionally,
I think about that moment when I myself am turning on my headlights
when it is dark or otherwise hard to see outside. My parents aren’t
super excellent drivers, either; they tend to forget their blinkers a
lot or speed around corners. Through them, I have learned what do to
by their teachings and what not to do by their doings. They got me in
the driver’s seat and let me drive around parking lots until I got
the hang of it, but I’ve gone a few steps farther by using my
blinker whenever I switch lanes or turn and try my best not to speed
in any area (not just around corners). Guaranteed, I am not a perfect
driver either; I have found that I don’t pay as much attention to
my speed when a song I like comes on, and I have accidentally cut in
front of people before. But instead of regretting or forgetting these
experiences, I use them as examples of what to be more aware of next
time I’m on the road. I feel that if more people did the same thing
and used bad experiences as good examples, there might be more driver
awareness and safety on the road. Awareness and safety could also
increase if people were more vigilant when they’re driving with
others in the car instead of more distracted by them. By being more
vigilant, the drivers are setting a good example for their
passengers, which is especially important if the passengers
themselves are going to start driving soon. Drivers ed doesn’t
have to be in a classroom; it can happen right on the road, whether
by yourself or with others. It’s up to you to be a good teacher,
because what goes around, comes around.
