There’s no doubt about the importance a driver's education can provide. It gives students hands-on experience as well as knowledge about road signs and laws to ensure safe driving. However, there’s limited research to identify if a driver education program will reduce the number of car accidents. To make matters worse, the leading causes of deaths in young adults are car accidents, yet driver education isn’t mandatory for young adults across all states. Although there is limited research and evidence, drivers ed teaches students basic driving skills and road laws all which are essential in avoiding car accidents. To reduce the number of deaths related to driving, more research should be done and better practices incorporated into the curriculum.
Driver's education will help you learn to manage space, maintain a safe speed and teaches the importance of avoiding distractions. These aspects of driving are important because “the most common type of car crash for young drivers is hitting a fixed object”. This type of car crash also results in the highest number of fatalities. A driver's education will teach you to maintain a safe distance between vehicles which would help reduce the number of car collisions. As well as ingrain the importance of following the speed limit and not allowing things such as your phone, music etc.. to distract you. Without drivers education, many young adults are getting limited supervision and experience behind the wheel before getting their licenses. According to the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, drivers that lack experience are more at risk for car crashes. The experience that driving school would provide for students would be a safer option because they're accompanied by a professional instructor. In driving school they’ll have the ability to make mistakes and learn whereas when they’re without experience, they’re likely to result in a fatal crash. We can infer that regardless of age, driver education will provide the basics everyone needs for driving. The next steps would be to figure out the effectiveness it has on reducing car accidents.
Although the drivers education program has been around for 90 years, car accidents are still one of the common ways for young adults to die. Along with more research, there’s a need for improvement within the program. For example, a study questioning the effects of driving education on road safety concluded that to improve road safety “ it appears necessary to change the method or content of driving education” (Akbari, 2021). A driver's education program is both costly and extensive, so it's important for each lesson learned to have a long-lasting effect. We can infer that through repeated lessons people can carry out those lessons into real life situations. If safe driving practices are taken on the road, then this reduces the amount of car accidents that may occur. One change that can be made is including more demonstration of driving scenarios and how to respond to them. My experience with driving school taught me the basics of driving but didn’t teach me how to handle challenges that may occur while driving. I knew how to parallel park, three point turn etc. but I mostly learned these aspects in quiet areas with less cars. When I came time to practice these skills on busier streets, it was a lot harder for me to maneuver my vehicle safely. Unfortunately, my first car accident occurred as I was trying to do a three point turn on a busy street. As I was ending my three point turn, I hit a parked vehicle resulting in damages to both cars. After the crash, I panicked and couldn’t give the driver the information he needed. If I took a moment to reflect on the lessons I learned throughout driving school, it wouldn't have prepared me for that moment.
However, with much experience in challenging circumstances, not only could this accident have been avoided, but I could've better prepared myself for the aftermath of the crash. My learning style when it attains to driving is through experience. Scary enough, for me to become a better driver it would require me to get behind the wheel more often. Although I’ve already obtained my license, driving with an accompanied adult would make this a safer option. A trusted adult would help guide me safely out of a dangerous situation. In addition to that, watching other people would help me learn what to do versus not to do during different scenarios. In order to help others become safer on the road, I believe that it is my responsibility to practice safe driving. This can help minimize the risks because to be a safe driver is to be aware of how other people are driving. With enough practice, I would hope to help teach my future kids safe driving skills that will help reduce the number of young adults dying in car accidents.