Alli Baloun



As
a young fourteen year old, I thought drivers ed would be a
waste of my time. As I continued to learn over the course of the next
four years, however, I realized just how useful it was. Living in
rural South Dakota, I experience every weather condition imaginable
and what I learned in Drivers ed helped me many times. Little
things like knowing to pump my brakes on ice or putting the car in
neutral likely saved my life in situations where I could have been
t-boned or hit a pole. Drivers ed teaches kids a plethora of
different things ranging from basic road rules, to lesser known facts
that can help save their lives. I believe that Drivers ed
should be a requirement because of the vital information it teaches
people to reduce careless and dangerous driving. I think basic steps
such as no cell phone usage or any forms of distracted driving are
the first step in reducing traffic deaths. I also think that in
general knowledge is power, and knowing tips and tricks from weather
conditions, like hydroplaning, or knowledge of what to do at the
scene of an accident of any kind.
I
personally was in an accident my freshman year and in the almost four
years since my accident, I have greatly changed my driving habits.
The accident was ruled no fault, but with a combination of two
freshmen and insane after school traffic, two teens were left
scarred. I remember in the seconds after the accident seeing the hood
smashed, hearing my brother start to cry and feeling absolutely
helpless. I had taken drivers ed and knew what to do, but the
other girl had not, and some of the actions that were taken likely
could have been prevented with further road knowledge. From that day
forward, I became a lot more cautious when driving myself and I still
feel anxious in situations where a friend is driving and coming up
behind another car quickly. Although I would wish that experience on
no one else, I believe that it taught me valuable lessons that help
me still today.

I
think it goes without saying that there are many basic steps that can
be taken to be a safe driver, but I think that it’s the lesser
known things that can be the most important. Small things like using
blinkers and fully stopping at stop signs are things that most people
don’t think twice about, but you never know when it could be the
final straw between life or death. The most important thing to
remember when driving is that when you get behind the wheel it isn’t
always just your own life in your hands; it could be the car passing
by, passengers in the car, or pedestrians walking by. Driver
education is a useful tool in ensuring that every driver on the road
is properly educated so that everyone can be as safe as possible.