Driver Education

Olivia Keskey Driver Education Scholarship Essay I only just completed driver education a few short years ago so I remember quite a bit of the information from the course. In my opinion, that education has had an impact on my driving throughout the years and I often think back to videos and stories shared with us about a real life situation of a driving related death. Learning and hearing about drivers, specifically young drivers that I could more easily relate to, making seemingly small mistakes while driving that lead to severe injury and even death helped me personally understand just how dangerous driving can be. Considering the impact driver education had on me, I would expect that it also plays a role in other new drivers to drive more cautiously. However, this is not to say reckless and distracted driving are not still large issues on our roads. Two summers ago, a few friends and I were walking along the side of the road when a car came around the bend too fast, didn’t see us in time, and hit two of my friends. One of them was brought to the hospital with a broken leg and the other was airlifted with a broken arm and a fractured pelvic bone. The driver was under the influence of illegal substances. Everyone’s lives were impacted by that day in some way. Prior to the accident, I will admit that there were times when we would be driving together and would not be driving safely or focusing our attention entirely on the road. Since that day, all of our driving has changed for the better. I believe education can only go so far to make a difference in an individual’s driving and at some point the driver needs to have a personal motivation. Of course I don’t want to say that everyone needs to have a close friend or family member in an accident for them to drive safely but they need to have something that causes them to personally understand the dangers of driving and make the effort to drive safely anytime they are on the road. In order for myself to personally change poor driving habits, I think my biggest impact would be to continue to think back to that day. If I were to be put in the driver’s position, knowing what I just did and that it was my own poor decisions that led to it, would crush me from the inside out. I know I wouldn’t be able to handle that weight and guilt and therefore I have sincerely made an effort to make decisions that will help me avoid ever having to feel what that driver likely felt that day and every day since.