The importance of driver education is crucial to reducing the number of deaths. Driving courses usually starts around the teenage years and is required to obtain your license. Taking driver education courses helps new drivers get a better understanding why learning the rules of the road is important to know besides learning the actual rules of the road. Driving courses teach that being behind the wheel means you are now responsible for your life and the lives around you. If you are driving with passengers, those passengers are trusting you with their lives too. Although this is mentioned in the drivers course it’s not mention to the level it should be talked about. Driver’s courses are primarily to teach the government rules of the road, such as traffic laws, operating the vehicle, and safe driving techniques. Learning traffic laws is one of the most important steps to the driving course and reducing the number of deaths. There are over hundreds of traffic laws to learn, as well as traffic signs as well.
Some steps that can be taken to reduce to reduce the number of deaths relating to driving include improved driver education, stricter enforcement of laws, and vehicle technology advancements. Awareness can be brought into the issue by educating the public about some safe driving practices that can be taken and the danger that driving can be to others. By enforcing stricter penalties in driving recklessly or driving under the influence this can help people make better decisions in driving. The use of seatbelts is also a law that should be enforced more strictly as just simply having a seatbelt on can save a life or another person’s life. Your fate of life can genuinely be determined by a seatbelt. As cars and technology advance the safety features on newer cars are helping protect drivers and decrease the death rate within accidents. New features such as automatic breaks, lane departure warnings, blind spot monitoring and more.
I personally have experienced being in a serious car crash when I was driving. I was driving to my boyfriends track meet and I was too close to the car in front of me when driving on the highway. I was looking down at my phone when suddenly the car in front of me braked due to traffic ahead. My car slammed into the one ahead of me and all my airbags went off. I have never felt a fear like that in my life, my heart stopped, I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and the smoke from the airbags were circling through my lungs making me cough. The entire front end of my car was destroyed and totaled. I was in the middle of the highway by myself, and I was scared. All the cars around me were speeding ahead and I was afraid that at any moment I would be hit again. Eventually the police arrived, and my car was moved to the side of the highway. I have never felt such a crazy adrenalin rush in my life that I didn’t even know my wrist was broken till almost 10 minutes after the crash. Once my mom arrived, we went to the hospital where I got my wrist checked out and put in a sling.
Some steps to take for me to be a better driver was to learn from my mistakes from my previous driving. In the past I was constantly speeding and driving fast to get to my destinations. I was also always cutting corners turning corners fast. My phone was a huge distraction for me when I was driving so, I learned that having my ringer off when driving is the safest thing to do. Since my accident I have made a serious effort to drive safely by putting my phone on silent and then driving the speed limit. I have learned that driving is a privilege and when I drive, I need to be self-aware of the safety of everyone around me. Especially when I am responsible for driving others, I would never want to risk their lives when they are trusting me. Being focused when driving is crucial for safety to avoid distractions to keep your attention on the road. Using my turn signal always when necessary and being mindful of pedestrians will also ensure safety. But for me personally learning to maintain a safe driving distance is very important since that’s how my last accident occurred. All these habits will ensure the safety of others around me and my own.