Cars are integral to daily life in America. We drive to work, to school, to vacation. And in my opinion, the drivers of this country are not nearly as educated on the huge machines going sixty miles per hour as they should be. However, this is not for the typical reasons. While I do agree that actions like drunk or distracted driving are by far the most dangerous behaviors seen in drivers, I believe we are doing a good job warning against those. There are so many fines and jail time already in place, advertisements by the local Department of Highway Security, and the topics are heavily featured in the drivers exam. My city had a state-sponsored drivers ed course, including practical drives around the city in addition to the classroom portion. I admit I found the class to be boring and was primarily there for the insurance benefits and to take the drivers test through them rather than the DMV. I say this because I know that for many taking such a class would feel much the same, and if they are too old for the insurance benefits may feel it is completely useless. However, I benefited so much from the class. I used what I learned during it for the one accident I have ever been involved in, and as the driver.
I was once driving back myself and four of my friends from a beach trip. I was well over three hours from home, and had switched to an empty state highway due to heavy interstate traffic. Doing so may have saved my friends and I’s lives, as well as the potential lives of others. With no warning, at fifty miles an hour, the steering wheel began to violently shake back and forth, to the point where I actually cramped up both arms holding it in place. When I attempted to hit the brakes, they initially failed, before a slam press finally kicked them in. With my friends yelling from the car’s behavior, I had to maneuver as carefully and quickly as possible to a safe place. When I got out to look, I discovered all of the lugnuts had disappeared from my front tire. Even now, after taking it to multiple professionals, and even the car and wheel manufacturers, no one understood how it happened, with no warning or reason. This was the only car accident I have ever been the driver for, and it was in the middle of the day on a flat empty road.
I honestly believe that my driver’s ed class saved at least the integrity of the car, as well as some injuries of us passengers. The practical portion of the class taught me how to recover from going off road, and even how to use a ditch to slow down in case of a brake failure, so I was ready to do so if I hadn’t regained my brakes. It also taught me how to recover from a slide out, but as this was a violent jerking, I knew to lock in place as well as I could. The drivers test, neither written nor practical, mentioned none of this. That is why I believe an actual class should be required to become a driver, including both a classroom and practical portion. Something I was not expecting to be so beneficial to have prior experience with is to have outside distractions. Looking at your phone or eating while driving are obvious examples of distracted driving, but there are distractions that you have no control over. During my incident, I had to deal with extreme car troubles while a bunch of teenagers screamed and gave me frantic unhelpful advice. When my driving instructor yanked my wheel to the side without warning to test my recovery skills, or start howling for no reason, I had to deal with both. I was able to tune out my friends and focus solely on stopping. Honestly, I think they were more shaken up than me, but that may have been caused by having less control and knowledge of the situation.
To reduce the fatality of car accidents, in my opinion, what we are currently focusing on in a society is the best. While freak car accidents like mine will always be a possibility, according to the National Safety Council, the involvement of alcohol, drugs, or distracted driving is the main cause for an accident to go from a typical one to a fatal one. One thing I believe can be done in addition to what is already being done is to stress the importance of not driving tired.
Driving impaired or not looking where you are going is obviously bad, but sometimes people don’t think about how they are when tired. Even if you don’t literally fall asleep at the wheel, grogginess impairs your vision and senses in weirdly similar ways as being drunk does. My uncle is a semi-truck driver, and told me that many times if you see a semi pulled off the road stopped for no apparent reason, the driver is asleep. His only accident was one he caused by drifting into a neighboring lane early in the morning. If you are feeling tired, especially if you find yourself lane drifting or jumping at cars passing, you should pull over to the next safe place and sleep until you feel ready to drive again. I have driven late at night before, and when my vision starts to blur at the edges or my eyes droop, I pull over into a safe place, as well-lit and monitored as possible. Even sleeping for thirty minutes to an hour can give you enough of a boost to get you to your destination.
With this in mind, I would say taking a drivers education class, even if an unofficial one, is a huge benefit to any driver, new or old. Go into an empty parking lot and practice parking, including parallel to save you some parking garage money sometime. I would say the most important thing to do would be to practice when something goes wrong. Practice accelerating and slamming on the brakes, so you know what that feels like. Practice pulling off into the grass or have your little sibling scream in the backseat. From my experience, seeking even the smallest aspects of a real emergency can prepare you so you handle yourself when it does occur. If you are going out with your friends, alternate the designated driver, or plan the alternative method of transportation way in advance so you don’t have to think about it while impaired. Cars are not going away anytime soon, and neither will car accidents, but by knowing how to handle them, and ensuring you are not impaired, is the best way to both reduce their number and fatality.