How Can Driver's Education be Improved to Reduce Motor Vehicle Deaths?

Driver’s education is imperative in the fight to reduce the number of deaths that result from car incidents. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in the U.S with an average of 38,000 deaths per year. Distracted driving, drunk driving, speeding, and reckless driving are problems in our society. The best way to reduce these deaths is to shed light on the dangers of driving and how careless decisions could affect your’s or another person’s life drastically. This is exactly what the driver’s education classes are for. They were designed to educate new drivers on how to drive correctly, how to drive safely, and most importantly the consequences of inappropriate driving.

These driver’s education courses cover everything needed to efficiently inform drivers on the dangers and consequences of reckless driving. I believe that there is one extra step that can be applied to the curriculum. These courses could incorporate real-life scenarios, role play, or even simulators into their curriculum to further push the importance of safe driving. Driver’s may read about how in the few seconds it takes to text “wassup” that you can easily crash or that even a simple buzz while driving could mean your death. Insert them into dire situations so they can experience it for themselves. Have them wear a helmet that simulates what it feels like to be buzzed or drunk. Immerse them in a driving simulator that shows them how 4 seconds of typing could mean the difference between life or death. Roleplay so they can feel how hard it would be to explain to a jury or even a crying mother that a man has died because of their recklessness on the road. Placing new drivers in these situations would be the next step to reducing deaths related to driving everywhere.

My parents are very excellent drivers that drive very safely. They take driver safety very seriously, but more importantly, they take my safety very seriously. They took every precaution to ensure that I was ready to move on through each step to getting my license. They taught me how to drive defensively when someone is not driving safely near me. I am an excellent driver because of it and I have never been involved in an accident while driving. The best thing I can do to help others stay safe on the road is to focus on my driving. As long as I drive safely and defensively, I am doing my part in keeping myself and others safe on the road.