Driver’s Education is integral in teaching drivers of all sorts the basics of driver’s safety, and of potential hazards on the road. I personally draw on what I learned in Driver’s education every day I commute to work or school, keeping in mind following distances and how they may change in weather, stopping distance, how far one needs to see each way from a stop sign, Semi-Truck's' blind spots, right of way with 4 way stops, and more. These sorts of things have very likely already saved my and others’ lives just in the years I’ve been driving. Not only is being educated important, but investing into and remembering that education is crucial to keeping the roads slightly safer, one person at a time.
I find that in my experiences driving long distances, city and highway, rural areas, neighborhoods, canyons, and more that the main danger of driving is the drivers themselves. And no, we seem to have a decent handle on all those things you aren’t supposed to do while driving: checking your phone (though I’ve definitely honked at a couple people for that), self-grooming, eating food, and other things of the like. However, the drivers themselves put others in danger with their temperamental driving, general impatience, skewed sense of justice perhaps, and reckless driving in general. I think that the best way for us to reduce deaths related to driving is less to eliminate distractions, as many may push, but rather to focus on educating further the benefits that everyone has when we drive with patience and safety.
I’ve had the displeasure of being a witness to the repercussions of driving when the driver is in an altered state, through a friend of mine. This friend was a severely burnt-out high school student at the time, and was driving incredibly tired. They stopped at a red light in an intersection, mistook the rule of stopping at a red light for stopping at a stop sign in their drowsy state, rolled into the intersection, and got hit directly in the side of their car by someone going rightfully through the intersection for their green light. I had just gotten to school and was waiting for them to show up when I got the text message detailing the accident they got into- Luckily from them, so I knew they were alive and at least safe. The aftermath of that incident is actually ongoing. Through this altered-state accident, they caused themself a prolonged back injury, and they are now deathly afraid to drive.
Another experience I’ve witnessed was when I was in the car with a family member of mine. My family was going down to Salt Lake for a weekend outing, and said family member volunteered to drive us. As we progressed through the hour or so drive, me and my other family members not driving became increasingly nervous with our driver’s choices while driving- often speeding, diving into other lanes to get around people at a second’s notice, taking turns too wide, and more- because they thought they were going to be thwarted because of the car they drove. This recklessness showed me that we can displace the blame as drivers to offset the notion that it’s us: our lack of patience and responsibility as drivers, being quick to trying to “push and shove” in any way we can to try and gain any sort of advantage over others on the road, a warped sense of justice, or a general “me vs. you” viewpoint that we maintain on the road. We may try to blame anyone or everyone else for our actions and avoid the uncomfortable accountability that we must take as drivers. We have to avoid “road rage”, feeling targeted or the desire to be impatient through our commutes, in order to make driving on the roads safer and cause less accidents and deaths.
This is just a couple of many cases I’ve seen of reckless driving, from my friends, family, and other people on the road. I think that overall the driver’s safety and wellbeing outside of the vehicle has to be stressed much more than it is. This being their temper, their sleep, driving at appropriate times of the day, their patience, and taking care of themselves as much as they can outside of the car so as to eliminate as many distractions as possible. This is something that I try to continuously brush up on myself, as well as advise when I can to others.