According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “About 227,000 teenagers were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2020.” This is an alarming statistic, but it is easy to think of this as simply numbers. However, behind numbers are actual people, such as the young drivers Kelly and Jordan. Imagine. It is finally Kelly’s sixteenth birthday, and it is the day she had been waiting for for years. She has her driver’s test scheduled and has already completed her driver’s education. Kelly easily passes the test and gets her license. To celebrate, she and her best friend go out to ice cream that afternoon. During this time, she approaches an intersection when she sees flashing lights appear in her rearview mirror. Based on her abundant driving knowledge, Kelly never panics. She quickly, but safely pulls over to the right. Driver’s education helped her avoid the possibility of this event turning into a nightmare. On the other hand, the flashing lights that passed her was an ambulance speeding to an accident. Upon arriving at the scene, EMTs and police officers observe that a car improperly merged into a lane and created a collision. After some investigation, it is discovered that the driver of the car causing the accident was seventeen year old Jordan who had not taken any drivers ed courses or even had his license. His overconfidence and the peer pressure from his friends set him behind the wheel of his parent’s car. Thankfully, the crash only caused minor damage and there were no injuries. Ultimately, this split second decision to merge lanes could have been life threatening. The one and only aspect preventing a fatality was luck. Not only was Jordan illegally driving his parents car, but he also lacked both the knowledge and experience he needed to be a safe and responsible driver. This all could have been avoided if he went through the necessary training that goes along with being a liable driver. In the end, Jordan’s experience with the car collision was a frightening event for him. He immediately realized that he was not too cool or skilled enough to ignore the education and training that needs to be completed in order to become a driver. As a result, he took his driver’s education course online, underwent the required thirty hours of experience, and completed all the needed behind the wheel sessions. He is now a successful driver who has never gotten into another accident.
Although Jordan eventually made the right decision, easily avoidable situations occur too often when teens ignore the proper preparations. Every teenager can not wait for the day they finally get their licenses. It is a trademark of growing up and maturing. Getting a driver’s license is associated with freedom, but along with freedom comes responsibility. Despite it being easy for teenagers to get caught up in the endless possibilities of sitting behind the wheel, there are precautions that can help save the lives of millions. Besides watching parents drive, teens have no idea how to drive until they do it for themselves. A great amount of this inexperience can be reduced by driver’s education. Passing drivers education ensures that students are ready to be out on the road safely without injuring themselves or other innocent bystanders.
In addition to gaining knowledge, having calm and knowledgeable adults sit next to students during behind the wheel sessions allows them to focus. Ultimately, it eliminates the factor of having nervous parents in the vehicle. Almost every student has had that one distinct memory of learning to drive, which resulted in their parents screaming at them. Instead of teaching them, teens are instilled with fear from their parents' stress. By including behind the wheel sessions, students are able to learn in a positive environment. Everyone is bound to make mistakes, but working with trained driving instructors ensures students can make honest mistakes without it feeling like the end of the world. It also reduces the chance that parents will incorrectly teach their children the wrong techniques. Parents may have passed the drivers test, but that was a long time ago, so they will not be sufficient at teaching techniques they haven’t completed in many years.
In conclusion, driver education provides the necessary structure and practice teenagers need in order to be successful and safe drivers. The number of accidents every year is substantially reduced when only certified drivers are allowed to be on the road. Ultimately, sons, daughters, friends, nieces, and nephews--just like Kelly and Jordan--will be saved.