2024 Driver Education Round 1
Driving Towards a Safer Road
Stephany Reyes
Baltimore, Maryland
Furthermore, it is crucial to consider the fact that new drivers, particularly young ones, have extremely high crash mortality rates. Young drivers' inexperience is the main cause of their perpetual appearance in road crashes, as well as their lack of driving skills and capabilities. This is not unexpected at all, due to the complexity of driving, as it's a self-paced activity that requires a lot of basic tasks and higher-order skills. Almost all of today's driver education courses include some of the psychomotor, perceptual, and cognitive skills that can benefit young drivers when faced with high-risk situations. However, they tend to be covered superficially due to their limited information resources.
In addition, another significant issue is that a considerable number of these uneducated drivers remain this way. The lack of encouragement to pursue educational advancements leads to most individuals experiencing at least one automobile accident in their lifetime. To highlight, particularly in my country, it's not uncommon to go through situations like that. One of my numerous experiences could serve as an example of this.
At the time of this event, I was an infant, likely aged between 7 and 9 years old. The morning was like any other, as I headed to my primary school with my father. However, at some point, the calm and routine process of arriving at school was abruptly interrupted in a totally unexpected and disastrous way. Every morning, during my commute from home to school, I used to fall asleep in the car, and this day in particular was not an exception. As a result, upon falling on the floor of the car's back seat during the accident, I woke up completely startled. Fortunately, I did not suffer any damage from the fall. On the other hand, the car that belonged to my father, who was the driver at the time of the accident, was impacted by several types of damage, as well as the car it collided with. At the moment, I was feeling extremely confused and frightened since I could not comprehend what was happening. I was able to observe my father exiting the car and discussing the situation with the other driver.
Even to this day, I am uncertain about the exact details of what happened, but it appears that my father was the one who caused the crash, as he used to rush while driving. At the end, when my father seemed to have reached an agreement with the man, he retrieved me from the car. The impact of the accident was so severe that the vehicle was unable to get us to school, so we decided to take a taxi instead. To conclude, my experience was not remarkably appalling, as I did not end up with any serious injuries. However, the affected one was my father, as he had to pay for the expenses of both his and the other car.
What's more, as mentioned earlier, car crashes are quite frequent in my country. However, motorcycle and pedestrian accidents have a much higher incidence. To explain the severity of this situation in my country, I want to share another experience. Although this is not my own, it can provide a detailed illustration of how uneducated a variety of drivers are.
To begin with, this experience belongs to my mother, who was peacefully on her way home from work. Until she was able to observe a car driving over a homeless man in a lonely area. Apparently, the driver assumed that the homeless man would stop after witnessing that he hadn't. Unluckily, none of them did, causing the car to stop awfully late, which resulted in the man falling to the ground because of a minor collision coming from the automobile. Such a scene left my mother in astonishment, and the first thought that crossed her mind was that the driver would get out of his vehicle to assist the homeless man.
Nevertheless, this was not the case, as the driver just rounded and passed by the homeless man lying on the ground. As soon as the car advanced, the homeless person stood up by himself and continued crossing the street slowly, due to the significant damage acquired from the impact. My mother was so shocked by the casualness of this accident that she even got furious. Mostly by how this driver did not undergo any type of infliction for his harmful and immoral attitude. To sum up, this incident reflects the poor education of a great number of drivers. Which gets to the point where they don't worry about whether they have caused serious injuries to someone due to their barbaric driving behavior.
It is evident that there is a growing demand for driving students to enhance the authenticity of their experiences. That is why emphasis should be mainly placed on those skills that have been shown to be related to the several incidents that occur continuously. A few of the numerous skills and guidelines that should be thoroughly covered and taught include: Avoiding any major distractions while driving, such as utilizing their phones or consuming any type of meal. It is indispensable to incentivize drivers to understand that their entire approach has to be primarily directed at the road. Besides, it is essential that they obey each of the traffic laws, for instance, to adhere to the speed limit guidelines, along with the different traffic and road signals.
However, improving the safety of driver training requires more than just intensifying the study of key skills. As it demands the acquisition of abilities in situations that are further applicable. Although identifying the various factors involved in traffic accidents is relatively easy, as well as comprehending what is required to enhance this situation. Improving the educational process entails a change in behavior. Hence, it is not sufficient to teach individuals how to drive a vehicle and to embrace the traffic laws. But it is crucial that they learn the concept of responsibility and how their driving behavior affects their safety and the well-being of their community.
In addition, in order to move forward with this development and achieve success, we need the collaboration of all within the community. As my mother's previous experience shows, this correction emphasizes a form of moral education. Thus, if it had not been for the lack of morality the driver counted with, the homeless man would probably never have been forced to endure such a shameful and outrageous accident. Besides this, as a fairly young person who will soon start the process of learning to drive, it is comforting to be able to comprehend and observe issues that might arise if I am not educated enough to drive. This inspires me to provide the utmost of myself at the moment of learning all the vehicle regulations. As well as to make use of the necessary courtesy at the time of driving.
Furthermore, as I regularly witness car accidents in my country, I am firmly committed in assisting this cause to achieve further repercussions and awareness. Learning about the driving rules is not the only action I require to be able to carry out this type of process. But in addition, I have to gain information about other drivers' experiences and knowledge, specifically those who have not suffered from abundant traffic incidents. Additionally, I consider it is completely necessary to divulge this important and exclusive information with my acquaintances. Whom, the majority of them are within the age range where people are typically introduced to the educational driving programs.
In conclusion, the resolution of automobile accidents on the mortality rates is a significant issue that must be addressed immediately. By acquiring and exchanging more information about driving experiences and apprehensions, numerous individuals will be capable of making the roads a much safer place for themselves as for their colleagues within their community.
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