I believe that
far too many people die from poor driving habits, whether it is they
themselves who drove poorly or another driver who endangered others.
Drivers ed is integral to keeping our roads safe, as it only
lets good drivers get on the road—well, at least it should. I
believe that to be most effective, rigorous drivers ed should
be necessary before a permit or license can be granted. In addition,
I think that every so often, people should have to retake a driving
test to ensure they are still fit to drive.
Driving
responsibly requires a great deal of concentration and attention. So
many factors interact on the road, including other drivers, the
weather, and sometimes pedestrians or even animals. A good driver
must be able to pay attention to all of these simultaneously,
scanning for threats and adapting to changing circumstances. Some
people, unfortunately, are incapable or unwilling to do this.
Therefore, the role of drivers ed is to, if possible, teach
people how to pay full attention on the road. In a classroom setting,
this might be difficult to do, and in a real car on the road, the
student could endanger others if they are not yet fully prepared. One
possible solution to this is to use virtual and augmented reality
simulations that will not put anyone else in danger, before moving up
to real driving.
Fortunately, I
have never been in a car accident, and my friends and family all
drive pretty responsibly. However, I do think that there are some
people in my community who are not very safe drivers. I think that
one way I could help others be safer drivers is to put out signs and
other indicators to encourage safe driving. I could also try to lead
by example and show others what safe driving looks like, which means
that I will need to continue learning about being a safe driver. A
more forceful strategy that might work would be to require retaking
the driving test every so often, to make sure people stay in line.
Given the seriousness of the problem at hand, I believe that this
administrative action may be the most effective course. Unsafe
drivers are out there, and it will probably take government-sized
effort to keep them off the streets.