Driver education is important because it keeps everyone on the road safer. And the safer everyone drives, the fewer accidents there will be, and fewer accidents means fewer deaths. We need driver education to give new drivers the skills and knowledge they need to navigate the roads safely. Everyone can push the gas pedal and steer, but there is so much more to driving than getting a car to move or stop. Drivers need to understand traffic laws, know what all the different traffic signs mean, and they need to have the skills it takes to navigate busy streets. Everyone needs to understand what their responsibilities are to keep themselves and everyone else on the roads safe.
But besides the obvious knowledge needed to drive, such as learning about traffic signs, driver education also raises awareness about the risks and consequences involved with certain behaviors, such as driving under the influence, texting while driving or other distracted driving, and speeding.
Statistics show that teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 cause the most accidents in the United States and the fatality rate of those accidents is 20% higher than those of age 20 and older. These numbers clearly show that the driver education that is currently in place has a lot of room for improvement. In my opinion, there are many ways to reduce the number of those accidents and thereby the fatality rate.
One solution could be to raise the age when teenagers are allowed to drive. Teenagers are known to engage in risky behavior in general, why would that not include their driving habits? Giving them more time to mature before letting them drive could eliminate many accidents. In many states you can get your learner's permit at the age of 15 already, meaning by age 16 you can obtain your full driving privileges. While you must be accompanied by a licensed driver of 21 when you only have your learner's permit, this could be the root of another problem. You are handing over the responsibility to teach young people how to drive to someone who might not be qualified. They might not know or follow all the laws themselves, or they might not have the skills it takes to teach someone else. And there is no way of knowing how much practice a driver with a learner's permit gets before receiving their full driver's license.
The second solution therefore could be to require all new drivers with a learner's permit to take a minimum amount of professional driving lessons. While those are already available, they are very costly and not required by law. Making them mandatory and partially or even fully state-funded, ensures that everyone will get quality driving lessons and practice before they are allowed to drive on their own.
The third solution could be to make all tests supervised. Allowing tests to be taken online and unsupervised does give a lot of room for cheating. Nobody knows who is truly taking the test or if you know the answers and aren't looking them up as you go.
While I have not been involved in a car accident myself, my mother was once hit from behind while stopped in traffic. The driver who hit her was distracted as this happened on a straight road and the traffic had been stopped for a while. There was no reason that the driver would not have noticed the stopped traffic unless he wasn't paying attention.
Also, I have not seen a friend or family member drive irresponsibly, I have witnessed enough craziness on the roads by other drivers. I see other drivers texting almost daily and people being in such a hurry they pull out into traffic in an unsafe manner. Once I saw a bike rider in the bike lane get hit because a car turned into a store's parking lot without slowing down to look and therefore not noticing the bike. And everyone is always in such a hurry that they don't leave enough room between themselves and the car in front of them, constantly swerving in and out of traffic or they are speeding and sometimes not even stopping when a light has already turned red.
While these issues are caused by all drivers, I think ensuring that teenagers become responsible drivers by receiving quality driver education and mandatory qualified driving lessons will increase the chance that they become responsible drivers as adults. One option could be to offer both at high schools. Our high school used to offer both, but that was before I was old enough to take advantage of it. Now those lessons have been discontinued county wide, mostly to save money. Considering that safe driving can save so many lives, it is sad there is not enough funding available to ensure teenagers become responsible drivers.
There are several steps I can take to be a better and safer driver and also help others do the same. I think the most important step is to always have your cell phone put away, so you are not tempted to check messages or go online for whatever reason. Another step is to always wear your seatbelt and to always leave on time. If you are not in a hurry, you are automatically driving more safely as you are calmer, paying more attention, and are not tempted to speed. Last but not least, I will be taking the teen driver challenge when I am eligible, which is offered by our Sheriff's office. This challenge includes 10 hours of training with classroom instructions and vehicle operation. And I will be inviting several of my friends to take this driver challenge as well.