Think
Before You Drive

It
is the first day. Select boys and girls gather at their respective
high schools to begin learning one of the most important skills they
will need to succeed in life—driving. From here the adolescents
will garner valuable skills that they will use constantly to get from
Point A to Point B safely. It is little known that most drivers spend
about five to ten percent of their lives in a car; this is a big step
for these adolescents. The possibility of being able to get behind
the wheel is so exciting for a teenager. Getting to take the first
cruise in a new personal vehicle is surely a feeling like no other.
In order to achieve this dream, one would first need to that knowing
safe driving techniques is one of the most important skills that
young drivers can learn in this world. This could be the difference
between life of death.
Drivers
Ed instructors may be undermined somewhat in what they do. If you
think about it, their job is one of the most in the country—to
prepare groups of kids to be able to take on the open road in a safe
and responsible manner. This is no easy task. I have seen it where
some kids will grasp the precautions necessary to drive, but some
simply will not take it seriously. This is the group that we need to
inform.

As
drivers we need to be vigilant. I think that the most valuable lesson
that I learned about driving came from my father. He famously said,
“Assume everyone else around you drives like an idiot.” This
makes sense to me because we cannot always assume that everyone
around us is driving safely and responsibly. This is why I
personally think that Drivers ed should be required by all
states before a young driver can get their license. To inform the
“idiots” of the road to be safe while driving.

I
have been through Drivers ed; I am very glad that I completed
the course. I was taught very valuable things that I still use
everyday when I get behind the wheel. I found it was very important
to get the hands-on driving with the instructor in the car, so that
if you make mistakes, they could be corrected and never made again.

My
family and I have been affected in numerous ways by accidents while
driving that could have easily been avoided had the driver been
responsible and educated. It does not just affect loved ones if
someone is in a serious crash, but rather an entire community. We
have seen what it has done to towns and groups of people if someone
is no longer with them because of a driving error that they or
someone else foolishly made.
It
is of the utmost importance that everyone practices safe driving
techniques when they get behind the wheel. These techniques could
potentially save a life someday; whether it be your own or someone
else’s.