Driver Ed Is No Joke

Driver education, especially for teens, is of the upmost importance to preserve lives of men, women, children, infants, and elders. I have heard shocking stories from my friends and family about teenagers behaving recklessly while operating motor vehicles. I have listened, dumbstruck, to a story about an unlicensed fifteen-year-old boy my father knew who stole his family’s car to go joyriding. I have heard of teenagers speeding through a neighborhood in a friend’s car, endangering the lives of everyone around them. These teenagers may have been perfectly responsible otherwise, but the freedom of driving went to their heads. Unfortunately for them, driving is when responsibility is a necessity.

Teens enrolled in drivers ed courses learn about the complexities and potential dangers of operating a motor vehicle. They are taught how to avoid crashes, drive safely in extreme conditions, and obey road laws. These skills, and many others, learned in drivers ed serve to lessen the number of driving accidents, saving countless precious lives.

Sadly, many teenagers do not take drivers ed very seriously. When in drivers ed class, I saw many of my fellow students, myself included at times, become bored of the class and drift into daydreaming or distracting their friends. When students don’t take drivers ed seriously, how can they treat driving with the gravity it demands?

To reduce the number of deaths related to driving, drivers ed courses need to be respected. They should be treated as indispensable, a privilege to attend, instead of a boring, useless class. Perhaps review games, or other interesting material, could be introduced to the curriculum, without detracting from the gravity of the class. Another issue adding to unsafe driving is a lack of professional practice. The state could provide driving coaches trained in the best teaching methods for new drivers and require new drivers to have so many hours of practice with a coach. Perhaps with more interesting education and more professional practice, teens could avoid reckless driving.

Only once did I come seconds away from a serious accident. I was driving home from a late babysitting job along an unfamiliar, twisting road. I was so drowsy, I was half-asleep. I jerked to a stop at an intersection, looked both ways, saw a car coming…and pulled out anyway. I’m still not sure why. Maybe my brain never translated the sight of a car into “Wait!” Whatever the reason, I accelerated into a small sedan. The car swerved as I braked. We didn’t make contact, thank the Lord, because as he pulled away, I saw wide-eyed children staring at me from his backseat. I could have killed innocent children by my careless, drowsy driving. Shakily, I drove home, collapsed in my mother’s arms, and cried. Ever since, I have taken measures to keep alert, present, and focused while I drive. I have made mistakes, but by staying aware of my surroundings, noticing what others are doing on the road, and never driving drowsy, I can keep others safe.