Awareness in Driving

Almost every teen looks forward to their 16th birthday. They can finally get their license and start driving out on the road alone and free. Driving can be useful to get to school and jobs but can also be very dangerous if not done properly. Many deaths a year in the US are caused by car accidents that possibly could have been avoided. Driver's education is a vital stepping stone in learning to drive. It teaches all the things people do not first think about as important while driving. For example, people do not typically think of music being a distraction in the car but it easily can be if too loud. In drivers education kids learn all that and how to drive safely. Unfortunately, a lot of kids see driver's education as useless and do what needs to be done to pass but don't remember anything or pay attention in class. Driving is a skill and one that people have to be aware of and think about while doing it. This needs to be repeated in drivers classes understood by kids. If people think about driving and what they are doing they can notice things before they happen or get serious and avoid accidents. I was driving home the other night in the dark and there was one car in front of me who suddenly came to a stop. Luckily, I was paying attention and had enough time to also hit the brakes, but I know many of my friends who would not have been paying attention and possibly crashed. Paying attention in drivers education taught me more about driving than actually being out on the road where I just applied what I learned in the classroom like the IPDE process. Driver’s education needs to be harder or better mandated so kids need to pay attention and learn to pass. The classroom is where you can learn to avoid accidents and what should be the focus of learning to drive.  There needs to be a focus on teaching people how to drive smartly. Not just right pedal to go left is stop, they need to be taught how to think ahead, drive safely, and avoid accidents. These need to be stressed in drivers education classes not just as an extra lesson and quick open notes test (all my tests were open notes where I went), it needs to be taught and reiterated. We nore advertisements about actual safe driving instead of the occasional seat belt wearing commercials. Especially with more self-driving cars, or cars that alert you when something is close, people feel less responsible for themselves when in the car. They think, “my car will handle it, I don't need to pay attention”. People are getting lazy in driving and forgetting it’s a skill that needs to be practiced and done right. Promoting awareness even when in a self-driving car should be a priority of car makers. They would not want to get sued cause someone fell asleep at the wheel and something went wrong. Or another driver makes a dumb move and can crash into the car, if the person still knows how to drive and is paying attention they can see this and take over before something serious happens. Awareness and skill is all that goes into driving and it is essential to master these to drive safely and avoid conflict. To make myself a better driver I try to drive often enough to make sure I can still pay attention well enough and get to know my surroundings wherever I am whether at home or visiting somewhere. I remember the IPDE process a lot while driving and my parents do a good job of reminding me how to drive safely when they are in the car. I try to tell my one, very distracted driver type, friend about how important it is to pay attention. I have almost been in a crash with her because she missed a turn and tried to whip around and turn in still with cars behind us and has almost put a few other incidents because she looks away from the road or is zoning out. I do not want to be in a car crash let alone be the reason my friend is in a car crash if I was her. I try to help and learn from her too. Overall, safe driving is done by paying attention to the road and avoiding accidents before they happen. Lazy driving needs to be seen as a bad thing and not encouraged by car providers. A lot of car accidents are avoidable and it is sad to watch people die and get hurt when it could have been prevented. Driving is a luxury and must be done and taught correctly to ensure safety for everyone.