In The Driver's Seat

Every day I sit in the driver’s seat. Do I understand the gravity of the situation? Am I taking my role seriously? In that seat I have the power to end my life or the lives of others. Understanding this, have I taken the precautions and preparations to sit in the driver’s seat? I believe that the drivers ed course that was available to me in my high school helped me immensely.

Driver education is so very important in preventing driving deaths because it instills the good habits of safe driving: look both ways, come to a complete stop, use signal lights (to name a few). Drivers ed also warns new drivers of other concerns like mirror orientation, weather conditions, and more. It is for these reasons that driver education should be available to all.

All states should require a drivers ed course be taken before getting a permit. This course should be offered at schools, community centers, or other convenient locations. After every year, licensees should have to take an online course to reinforce and restore safe driving knowledge.

This subject affects me on a personal level. A friend of mine and fellow senior, Eli Spray, passed away on November 1st of this year. He died on his way to school on a Friday morning when he collided with a wrecker truck that was backing out of a driveway. He was speeding and was not paying attention to the road. This death affected so many people. Not just his immediate family, but his school family and the whole community of Grant, Alabama. I pray that no other family, school or community has to go through the painful experience that my school went through. Educated driving touches me on a deeper level now. That is why I am passionate about this scholarship and its message.

To be a better driver, I can- of course- follow these habits and rules that I have mentioned throughout this essay. But I can also revisit driver education curriculum to reinforce my knowledge and change my habits and adopt new ones. As the oldest brother of four other siblings that are beginning to drive, it is so extremely vital that I drive responsibly and safely. I should do this to keep them safe and model good driving for them. At this point in my life, driving death awareness and responsible driving education are very close to my heart.