The Benefits of Driver's Ed and Strategies for Changing Road Safety

               American roads are deadly, but their necessity makes them unavoidable. To live in America is to drive. We have built a society where existing means we must travel the roads. Our roads can be the greatest thing or the most heartbreaking. 

               Driver education is critical to ensure that drivers are prepared to face the roads and the dangers they bring. Anyone that has ever watched a go-kart race between a group of children knows the chaos that ensues. There are no rules except to get to the finish line first, and the kids race pedal-to-the-metal to win. While watching them drive their go-karts you can see them shunting each other into walls, cutting each other off, spinning into the barriers and in effect demonstrating why we need order on the roads. Without the rules of the road every commute would look like this go-kart race, pure, uncontrolled chaos in every corner. The rules of the road govern how we use them and they keep people much safer. With guidelines in place and clear right-of-way the laws keep organization on the roads, and each driver can typically see easily what they are supposed to do.

               These rules would be useless if no one taught them. A rule cannot fulfill its intended purpose unless it is understood and enforced. Driver’s Education teaches its students the rules of the road, in order to avoid that chaos. It is so necessary because even a few drivers that do not know how to drive could potentially cause enormous loss of life. The education beginner drivers receive gives them a foundation that is re-enforced when they experience behind-the-wheel driving with their instructor. That knowledge of road rules can keep many other road users safe.

               My opinion about other ways to improve driving and eliminate loss of life on the roads is kind of unorthodox. One of my ideas is to make every person drive stick-shift. I learned to drive on a manual transmission with my dad. It forced me to constantly analyze the conditions around me. I learned to pay attention to the actions of other drivers in relation to me. My fear of my car rolling backwards on a hill started teaching me to pay attention to the roads ahead and the cars behind me. To see exactly how much space I would have to execute a stressful hill start. I started to give myself a much longer following distance, the habit was formed to protect my transmission but has translated to safer driving. I keep a larger following distance so that I do not need to slam on the breaks and stomp the clutch when some one ahead of me brakes to turn. If everyone gave a wide enough following distance as I have learned to do, I believe that we would not see so many accidents where people are rear-ended. In this example I also want to point to semi-trucks. Often a trucker will leave a big following distance between him and the car ahead, so that he will be able to stop safely. Often in traffic I see people jumping into this gap to try and get ahead a few car lengths. They put themselves in danger just to go a little bit faster. 

               Another way I think would protect lives on the road would be to have people drive vehicles based on their needs. I know this opinion is atypical, but it is worth a thought. Many people use vehicles that are incredibly overpowered for the function they provide. My examples are things like a businessman driving a huge F-250 Super Duty on his daily commute to a desk job. That truck is fulfilling a role that could easily be filled by a Corolla. Think about what would happen if he was involved in an accident. A huge, heavy truck could crumple a smaller vehicle and kill the driver and any passengers. The same scenario of an accident, where the businessman is driving a Corolla or similar small car, would not result the same way, everyone is far more likely to walk away. The same applies to a mom of two driving a massive Suburban or Denali. She could easily fit the kids and all the things they need into a Forester or CRV. A huge vehicle like a Denali will cause so much more damage than a CRV would in the same accident scenario. This solution also has added benefits in that it will protect the climate by reducing emissions. 

               My brother was once involved in a car accident where a person pulled out in front of him on a low-visibility corner and caused him to T-bone her car. His alert driving saved her life, because he reacted quickly enough to pull the nose of his car over so that he hit the back of her vehicle rather than the driver door, where she would have been injured or potentially killed. His focused driving was able to make the consequences of her irresponsible driving so much less.

               I can take steps to become a safer driver as well. I can do things like keeping my music at a lower level where it is not distracting. I can mute my phone’s notifications and set my notification settings so that my phone does not light up when I get a notification. I can change my driving habits to make sure I am as alert to the road around me as possible. I can continue to keep track of the vehicles around me and practice defensive driving. I can make sure that my driving habits are set in a way that never puts anyone else in a dangerous scenario where their decisions, even reflexes, are the only things keeping either of us alive.

               There is no perfect answer, but if everyone agrees to act upon any answer, we will still end up worlds ahead of where we are right now. We need to start protecting each other on the road.