When we turn a certain age, we start to gain the desperation for driving. It is considered an essential part of modern life, but it still comes with significant risks and consequences that come along with it. In this essay, I will be diving into the importance of driver’s education in reducing the number of deaths related to driving, the steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, seeing my family members and friends driving irresponsibly, as well as the steps that can be taken to become a better and safer driver as well as find ways to help others become safer on the road.
Most high schools offer the opportunities to take driver's education courses. Many students do not take initiative to learn to drive by driver’s education. Personally, I feel that it’s important to take this course and should be required considering the fact that on average there are nearly 43,000 fatal crashes a year in the United states. It should be a school requirement to take this course for at least a quarter of a full school term. Driver’s education is important because it teaches young teens how to properly drive and learn the ways of the road before truly driving. They’re able to have an experienced driver by their side so that they know exactly what to do in a safe environment. If driver’s education were to be required in all states, I feel that there would be less accidents, as well as less losses of life.
There are many steps that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths involving driving. First of all, enhancing driver’s education would significantly help this issue. It should be more enforced so that young minds can gain the knowledge of driving in a safe environment. Secondly, having stricter enforcement of traffic laws would help this cause as well. If more traffic laws were enforced, there would be less things happening relating to speeding, drunk driving, and seatbelt use. There should be more public awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and the importance of wearing seatbelts, and the risks of driving under the influence. There should be increased penalties for violations so that it will discourage those who choose to break the traffic laws. In addition, improving road infrastructure would also aid this cause. If there were better road designs such as clearer signs, safer intersections, roundabouts, and speed bumps added, the rates of car accidents would drop.
In the past couple of years, I’ve known many people who have gotten into car accidents, one fatal. My uncle, who has been in many car crashes throughout his life, is a very reckless driver. During many of his accidents, he would fall asleep at the wheel causing him to crash or hit mail boxes. In one accident he had, his left hand was damaged so badly that it caused him to have 2 of his fingers cut off. He currently walks around with nubs on his hand. When I see his hand, it shows me how careless he is with driving and how I wouldn’t want to hurt myself and other individuals the way that he does. He endangered others and himself and that isn’t acceptable by any means. Most recently, in September of 2023, my close friend suffered a major car accident. To my knowledge, he was driving with 3 of his friends when a car pulled out of their driveway and my friend attempted to swerve out of the car's way. He was without a license. All 3 of his friends unfortunately died in the crash as the car caught on fire. When I went to see my friend in the hospital, all I could think about was how he could have died too. He’s considered family in my home, and had he passed away I would have been even more hysterical. There is an ongoing case about my friend and his accident, which comes to show how hard car accidents truly are to go through. But, these experiences that I have witnessed have taught me that it’s super important to drive responsibly so that others and myself don’t lose our lives. Not only that, it also taught me that it’s important to teach others to practice safe and responsible driving.
Due to my experiences with watching how others have gotten into car accidents, I feel that there’s many things I could do to educate myself and others to prevent these fatalities from occurring so often. First of all, staying focused would be a major thing to remember when driving. This is crucial because a main cause of accidents is when the driver gets distracted. This includes taking your eyes off the road, zoning out, or even sending a short text on your phone. Another thing would be to follow traffic laws. Maintaining a safe distance between myself and the vehicle in front of me is so important to allow enough time to react when the vehicle in front of me stops or slows down. Always using turning signals is so important when driving so that other drivers know your intentions. This includes when you’re making a lane change or turning into another road or street. Additionally, avoiding driving under the influence is significant when driving. It’s important so you don’t put others' lives at risk or your own.
Ultimately, it can be concluded how necessary it is to know all the factors of driving. Whether you’re driving for 5 minutes, or 5 hours, it still matters how you drive. It only takes 1 second to stop paying attention for something to ram into your car or vice versa. Because of this, there should be more education and more laws when it comes to driving.