Driver’s education is crucial in a globe where drivers find themselves with new distractions each day and are unaware of their and other’s lives at risk. Studies show that in 2022, there were 42,514 motor vehicle crash deaths in the US, with 3,308 caused by distracted drivin . This is a significant number of fatalities, and further policies need to be enacted to stop distracted drivers from taking countless lives.
Beyond the negative legal and ethical implications of driving, driving is a privilege that we should be grateful and proud of. After all, if we are going to travel to places via automobiles, we need to be knowledgeable of how to operate them safely and courteously. Although I was scared in the years leading up to getting my license of how much more aggressive and distracted drivers are becoming, this made me much more cautious of how I’m driving.
Along with driving being a convenient, efficient, mode of transportation, it’s also a responsibility we must be mindful of. Reckless driving violates the safety of the driver committing the act and others, which is voiced in recent surveys of drivers who feel unsafe on the road—especially after COVID. Nearly half of all drivers in the US feel less safe on the road than they did before the pandemic began in 2020 and “. . . of people surveyed, 32% said they were now less tolerant of traffic versus pre-pandemic – only 20% said they were more tolerant”. Those statistics should signal that unsafe and aggressive driving has become worse and that effective driving habits need to be strongly enforced in driver’s education.
Despite improving the thoroughness of driver’s education and increasing parental involvement due to the inexperience of younger drivers, the driver’s habits need to be planned and safe. A start is to take time for personal care (i.e. eating, drinking water, sleeping, grooming, making business/family calls, taking medicine, planning out your work commute time) before driving, and substances shouldn’t be consumed while driving. As much as people say that you need to drive smoothly regardless of your condition, these habits will help you stay focused and safe. From personal experience, when I haven’t slept well or eaten before driving, this causes me to make bad judgments, including slightly speeding above the speed limit, pulling out too quickly, and not checking my mirrors frequently. While a thorough driver’s education is needed along with good personal habits, these preparatory habits will help you stay alert and make safe judgments on the road.
Along with the driver’s habits before driving comes learning safe operational driving habits. While some of the rules in Segment 1 of driver’s education feel unrealistic to the habits of today’s drivers, applying them makes you a safer and more courteous driver. Safe driving habits include not using your phone while driving unless it’s an emergency, looking both ways at a green light on a four-way intersection up to the moment of passing, merging one lane at a time, and driving slightly below the speed limit (at least 5 mph under the speed limit) when there’s inclement weather. Examples of safe driving habits that I practice include telling people not to call me while driving unless it’s an emergency or a pressing work matter (I use the hands-free mode that’s currently allowed in Michigan by connecting my phone to my car’s Bluetooth speaker), looking both ways at a green light on a four-way intersection up to the moment of passing, only merging one lane at a time, and driving slightly below the speed limit when there’s inclement weather. I try to follow them because they help me be a safe driver even when I need to adapt to the habits of the traffic flow that are usually aggressive or non-existent (i.e. cutting lanes, speeding, not allowing room for drivers to merge).
People claim that you can supposedly multi-task—defeating the need to practice safe driving habits; however, this isn’t cognitively possible. Studies have shown that drivers using a phone are four times more likely to get into a car crash than those who aren’t. Additionally, cognitive distractions from multitasking can have a similar impact on driving ability as being legally drunk! Despite our want to feel competent in handling the work and family duties in our lives, this isn’t a moment for that. Driving takes high amounts of concentration, and our ancestors’ brains were designed to block out the surroundings so that they could focus on either hunting or fleeing from their predators—just like a driver might do to you intentionally or unintentionally if you take your eyes off the road! I have had some experiences of carpooling where I experienced friends who drove irresponsibly.
One time, I was carpooling with one of my friends on the way back to my house. He was driving at least 10-15 miles above the speed limit and made a sharp turn at the front entrance of my neighborhood. I felt the gravitational pull of that sharp turn as he pulled into my neighborhood, but thankfully, he and I were ok. I didn’t say anything because I was grateful that he drove me back home; however, he apologized and claimed that he was driving fast because he needed to get back to his mother’s house for Mother’s Day. I didn’t buy it at the time, and I should’ve spoken up to him about his reckless driving. In high school, he also had run into a streetlamp at my high school and had to have his radiator replaced. I have learned from his mistakes that you need to be aware of your surroundings, drive smoothly, and plan your time out accordingly—it's not someone else’s fault for driving at the speed limit or merging at a time that is inconvenient to you. Drivers need to be accountable for their driving habits—regardless of factors that may be influencing them as they drive. The safety of you, your passengers, and other drivers on the road is paramount to your convenience!
Driving is a privilege and responsibility. It’s our mode of transportation. Driving recklessly poses threats to your and other’s safety, and safe driving habits need to be better informed about and practiced. Being one of those responsible drivers influences others to drive responsibly, and creates a safer road for all drivers.