My thoughts on the importance of driver education

Driver education is one of the most important things in regards to the safety of the general public. It is impossible to not recognize that driving is an integral part of our society’s function. I am 18 years old and would still consider myself a new driver. I’ve always been scared of cars. All throughout movies and media imagery of car collisions or people getting hit by cars can be seen. It’s a nearly unavoidable circumstance given the prevalence of motor vehicles. However, realistically not everyone is on the road with safety being their #1 priority. Driving becoming such a regular part of any adult's day desensitizes them to the ever present dangers of simply being on the road. That is why it is so integral to the safety of the general public to take driver education seriously and recognize it is not only for their own safety but for the betterment of those around them. Anyone’s immediate solution to driver’s not taking safety as seriously on the road would be to increase rules and penalties for breaking traffic laws. However, that still relies on law enforcement to take traffic safety seriously which can be effective but is still not a good enough fix. Rather, the introduction of driving into a young adult's life needs to have more urgency given to traffic safety. People need to truly grasp the gravity of driving a motor vehicle and the consequences that can come from not driving responsibly. Of course, genuine restrictions and less leniency on speed limits would most likely aid in lessening driving related deaths as many happen from speeding cars that disregard speed limits because no one takes them seriously enough. On January 1st 2023, I was 15 years old and spending the new years day with my girlfriend when she got an abrupt call from her mother begging her to come home immediately because her older brother had gotten into a car accident. I remember rushing to my mom’s room and begging her to take my girlfriend home as soon as possible. After going home she later told me her brother passed away. He died immediately upon impact from a speeding truck, but the other driver who was at fault survived. I saw first hand how it affected my girlfriend to lose her older brother in a car accident that came from absolutely no fault of his own. I see the effects this loss has had on his family even to this day. Driver safety is something that I hold deeply and since I was 15 years old I always considered the seriousness of any driving related situation. My girlfriend’s brother was 18 years old at the time and had an entire future ahead of him taken away for the lack of consideration coming from another driver. Although I wasn’t directly involved in the car accident I would attribute this exact moment as being pivotal in my journey to becoming a licensed driver as I would never take driving lightly and would always do my best to stay safe not only for my own sake, but for my family and other people’s families that can be affected if I were to drive irresponsibly. I took my driver education very seriously when obtaining my learner’s permit and eventually driver’s license. I always check my mirrors and adjust my seat every time I get into my car. Moreover, I make sure to use my signals, check my mirrors, and blindspots when driving. It’s important to be actively paying attention when driving and not let it become some passive activity that is secondary to other thinking. I silence my phone whenever I drive and am always focused on the road. I take traffic laws very seriously and never go over the speed limit unnecessarily. The road isn’t a play place meant to see how fast I can go or how many cars I can pass without getting a ticket. The road is meant for transportation and travel. I never take the presence of cars lightly and am always careful even when I am a pedestrian on the sidewalk because with so many individual people controlling cars on a single stretch of land, you can never know what might go wrong. What I think is most important for me and everyone else to remember is that every driver has a destination they are trying to get to. If some people are driving unsafe, it is important to remember that your own safety is what’s important and always stay clear of dangers on the road.