All I had to do was pick up my friend from work; it was no more than a five-minute drive there and back. The short five-minute drive would end early when I would collide with another car. Time screeched to a halt just as I had when the oncoming car hit mine. I violently trembled as I unbuckled my seatbelt, gathered my belongings, and exited my car, nearly collapsing with every step as I witnessed the scene. I managed to get to a curb before starting to process what had just happened, not only to me but to the other people involved in the accident. It was a father and his daughter on their way home from getting lunch together. This experience highlights the importance of having proper driving knowledge when operating a motor vehicle and utilizing that knowledge by paying attention to one’s surroundings every moment that they are operating the vehicle. Younger drivers have less experience driving than older age groups, leading younger drivers to be disproportionately more at risk of getting in car accidents than any other age group. This correlates with information the National Library of Medicine gathered from their study in 2022. In the discussion portion of the study, they state “Although the present study did not measure the relationship these variables had with crash involvement, it is clear that young drivers who perceive themselves as having high levels of perceptual-motor skills, and also have low safety skills, are most at risk of being crash involved.”   This precisely confirms the notion that younger people are at the highest risk of having an accident while also showing that they are unaware of the danger they present themselves with every time they drive. The misconception of young drivers’ safety skills also leads that same age group to drive in an aberrant manner, meaning a divergence from what is considered normal driving behavior. These factors accentuate the importance of driver education in reducing the number of injuries and deaths because of driving. Educated drivers are safe drivers because they are much more aware of the inherent danger that comes with driving. Less educated drivers, on the other hand, tend to overestimate their knowledge and driving skills, leading them to drive in an unsafe and unpredictable fashion. This method of driving increases the chances of them injuring themselves and others every time they drive. Often, unfortunately, these drivers are forced to learn the hard way about the importance of safe and educated driving. Instead of this, I strongly recommend that more emphasis on driver safety be placed upon would-be drivers before they gain a false sense of security in their unsafe driving habits. Mandated driver safety tests being stricter on the number of wrong answers allowed will ensure that those allowed to operate a motor vehicle have a concrete grasp on the rules of the road. Those who have experience with driving should implore younger people to always drive safely, especially parents, due to the greater influence they have psychologically on their children. These parents should also set an example by driving safely and following all of the rules of the road. Children should be made known of their driving skills by their parents or guardians to eliminate any misconception that a child may have developed. People who are of a legal age to drink alcohol publicly should always plan on how they will get home safely. These are easy and effective steps to increase driver education and safety for years to come. The many injuries and deaths caused by unsafe and uneducated drivers every year are devastating. Therefore, society should place a strong emphasis on taking steps to create a more educated and safer driving community. I, being a witness and victim of such a tragedy, know firsthand the kind of effect that it can have on someone. I was luckily unharmed in my accident, however, that did not reduce the psychological impact that it had on me. Today, two years later, I still cannot enter any vehicle without involuntarily being reminded of the kind of danger that operating a car can pose, no matter how trivial the trip may seem. I have encouraged my friends and family to always drive safely since that day two years ago in hopes that my story will motivate people to not make a similar mistake. It must not take firsthand experience to know the importance of proper education and safety when driving. Safe driving can save lives that drivers, passengers, and even people passing by, would never know were in danger without it.