What is the importance of driver education in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving?
What steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving?
Have you ever had an experience of being in a car accident or have seen your friends or family members driving irresponsibly?
What steps can you take to be a better and safer driver as well as help others become safer on the road?

Road safety is a topic that needs to be talked about more in our society, especially in today’s culture of phones, limited attention-spans, and countless distractions. Driving is not one simple task, but it is composed of many individual aspects. These individual aspects of driving can either create a well-educated, and safe driver or a driver who is irresponsible and out-of-control. Road safety can only be strengthened when people begin to understand the importance of driving education, ways to reduce car accidents that lead to death, irresponsible drivers and their effect on others, and how to overall become a safer driver for oneself and others. 
Driving education is something that can sometimes be overlooked in society today, either by parents or the drivers themselves. When learning the basics of driving at the early age of either 14 or 15 years old, most kids are encouraged to take a driving class in order to learn the basics of driving. At the end of the driving class the teens are given a written driving test that essentially quizzes them on the knowledge they have gained over the eight-hour timeframe in class. It is important to start the teens off young with strict rules on road etiquette, road safety, and simple dos and don'ts for when they actually begin driving. However, without taking the class, kids are missing out on important ways of how to be safe on the road, therefore leading to uneducated drivers out on the road causing unnecessary accidents. Education on the importance of driving through a class taught by experienced drivers is a significant part of keeping the community of drivers safe. 
The individual aspects of driving include many steps that need to be taken when reducing the amount of death surrounding road safety. A number one rule that should always be followed when getting into a car is buckling up, and that goes for ensuring that other passengers are seat-belted before starting the vehicle. After buckling up, there are some other technical ways to avoid crashes on a road such as maintaining a safe distance away from the driver in front of oneself in case of any sudden braking or other issues, along with avoiding speeding especially in areas of construction or school zones. Safe driving also includes refraining from drug and alcohol use when operating a vehicle. Being under the influence while in the driver’s seat is cause for one’s own death, the death of the passenger next to him or her, and the death of the drivers and passengers that they hit when they swerve off the road due to the toxins in his or her system. The toxins from drugs and alcohol that possess one’s mind, causes the human body to make mistakes on the road that a person’s normal brain would never make if it was sober, leading to wrong turns into oncoming traffic, swerving, and running red-lights which can and will lead to death. There is already a law in place mandating that no drugs or alcohol are to be consumed when driving, but that is no guarantee of safe drivers out on the road. Alcohol and drugs while driving is a choice alone, a choice to make life-threatening mistakes on the road or a choice to live and protect all other lives around oneself. If these aspects are followed, this way of driving can guarantee a driver’s safety along with his or her passengers, further decreasing the amount of irresponsible drivers on the road.
Although I have never been in a car crash, I have been in a position of being in the car with an irresponsible driver numerous times. Most of these experiences that I have been involved in were speeding in areas that are dangerous to speed in like a school zone, construction site, and neighborhoods, but the biggest issue that I experienced when being in the car with another driver is experiencing distracted driving. Distracted driving is a common occurrence that I have encountered when in the car with another driver, considering that most of the time they are on one of the most major causes of crashes in today’s culture: phones. Phones have become a serious issue in the car due to the temptation to reach for it and look at Snapchat or Instagram, especially geared towards the younger generation. One second, a driver could be focused on the road, get a Snapchat notification, reach for the phone, and the next second their car is on the side of the road, flipped over because they drifted into the lane next to them due to the distraction of picking up a phone. Irresponsible and distracted drivers are the reason for most of the crashes happening on the streets today, and if they are not taking the right steps to reinvent themselves as safe drivers, then there is no hope for road safety in the future. 
Similar to the individual aspects one has to make in order to be classified as a safe driver, a safe environment on the road can only be achieved through the steps that people are choosing to make when it comes to maintaining a calm manner, staying on top of the speed one travels, and knowing the way of the road. A calm and patient driver is a safe and careful driver. The anger one expresses on the road only leads to a distracted, and a fury-driven mind that causes riskful behavior to prove a point, make a move, or yell at another driver.Speeding is never the right move when traveling because of all the possible dangers that come from an accident related to speeding. The faster one travels on the road, the bigger the crash will be. The speed limit signs are posted for a reason: to keep the driver, those outside the car, and the other drivers safe. For example, in neighborhoods, speeds are kept low to ensure the safety of those not in a car, including children, pets, and people in general running up and down the street, driveways, and the outside area. The speed one travels on a street can determine someone's life or death. However, if one was not taught about the importance of keeping a safe speed on the road, more accidents are prone to happen. Knowing the way of the road by being educated on the basics of driving is the ultimate way to be a safer driver for everyone else on the road and in the car. The importance of educating oneself on the ways of the road, learning how to avoid being an irresponsible driver while also avoiding car accidents, and becoming a safer driver for everyone around him or her is a huge step towards achievement in today’s culture where distractions are everywhere.