The importance of Improving

Ryan Elkins

St. Peters

University of Missouri - Columbia

Safe driving is one of the most important things to learn, because you will always have to do it, and nothing else will matter if you get killed.

Driver education is key in making roads safer and reducing driver deaths. Teaching young drivers, most often before they even receive their license, can set early examples into their minds and give them longer to soak up the information that will prevent fatal accidents. My little sister took a drivers ed course while she had her permit. The instructor spent the first day sitting in the car and explaining parts of the car and what to look for while driving. He told her that it was important to look “three cars ahead” rather than what was directly in front of her. It is small tips like these that can make a lasting impression in a students driving.

Specific steps to reduce deaths while driving can be approached in several different ways. In school, I remember safe driving wasn’t an important part of our education, regardless of over half the school being drivers. Increasing driving education in schools for young students before they even get their license will teach important safety habits that they will be exposed to up until they finally take their drivers test. If young inexperienced drivers are driving safer, it makes it better for everyone. A different step could be stricter laws and punishments for dangerous driving choices. In Missouri, it is illegal to text and drive if you are under the age of twenty-one. Having laws that allow anyone to engage in a reckless activity creates potentially fatal accidents. Texting and driving should be completely outlawed, and a higher fine needs to be implemented as incentive to not participate in hazardous activities.

I have been in one car accident, and it was 3 months after I obtained my license. I do not remember what I was doing, but I ended up rear ending my friend who was driving in front of me. It could have been that I was focusing on my music, or noticed something off to the side of the road, but the main thing was that I wasn’t focused on the road in front of me. I had seen friends mess with their phones or radios while they were driving, so I must have associated that to me being able to do it since they could. I never look at my phone now when I drive.

I can make the roads safer by never looking at my phone and not to mess with the radio unless I am at a full stop. I rarely eat when I drive, and If I do I make sure I am keeping my eyes on the road. I can help others be safe by not letting them use their phones while they’re driving, as well as making sure they are paying attention to things around them and following the laws of the road.