When I turned 16 I couldn’t wait to go to the DMV to take the driver’s knowledge test and to finally get my license, I had studied for months by this point and was ready, and when I was studying the driver’s manual I had come across something that I thought to have been false. It had said that 65% of people failed the knowledge test the first time they took the test. At first I didn’t believe it because so much of the knowledge required to become a safe driver on the road is very simple, it is almost like it is common sense. When I was at the DMV thou and waiting for my turn to take the knowledge test, I started talking with others that where there to take the test as well, and at that moment that’s when I started to believe the drivers manual was right. There were some people that where there for their fourth and fifth retake because they didn’t possess the knowledge to pass the test. That was also when I began to get worried, not only for myself, but for other drivers on the road as well. I began to think, and after doing some research I found out that only 23 states require drivers education courses before any new student can even take the written knowledge test which is less than half of the United States, which compared to the 1970s when 95% of all the US had to take a driver’s education course which it was also common practice for it to be a mandatory class in most high schools. With less people being educated in the importance and safety of driving the more wrecks there are, in recent years there has been an average 6 million vehicle accidents each year, that’s half a million wrecks each month. With numbers and statistics like those increasing it’s no small wonder why that most teenagers are afraid to drive or even refuse get their license, and when most people are scared they can get reckless, hesitate, and even second guess their own judgment which are all a major component of what can cause wrecks.
There are many ways thou in which wrecks can be reduced or even prevented. Some of the ways to help reduce this is to teach young teenagers and to help them better understand the rules of the road and knowledge which can be taught in the high school classes and the teachers by bringing back the driver’s education course. Parents can also help ready their young teens by teaching them and helping them practice safe driving habits, like not looking at their phone while driving, or to not drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Did you know that 8% percent of wrecks are caused by people looking at their phones, while another 32% percent is caused by driving under the influence! This amounts to a total of 13,900 fatal wrecks each year caused by these two factors alone. Local governments can also help too by bringing back the driver’s education classes in schools and make it mandatory to have so many hours in driver education class, but it all still comes down to the individual person behind the wheel. All of these teachings and safer driving habits won’t matter if the individual person doesn’t take it seriously; it all comes down to the students to practice these teachings and these safer driving habits, to use what they have learned, and if they do all of this, new drivers will learn they have very little to actually fear. This will in turn will give them more confidence and to reduce the number of wrecks. When someone is confident in themselves and in their knowledge they tend to not hesitate, they become less reckless, stop second guessing their decisions, and make fewer mistakes for when it finally does come time for them to finally drive one there own, and when people make less mistakes it makes for a better driving experience and a safer environment on the road not only for themselves but also for their fellow drivers around them and the next generation of new drivers to come.
Having many friends and family members who have been in wrecks I’ve come to find out that a large majority of all of the wrecks that happen could have been avoided if drivers knew what to do to avoid a wreck. Now having this knowledge and better understanding the dangers that come with driving has made me want to be a safer driver. Hopefully this essay and others like it will bring to light the importance of the driver’s education class and what it means to be a safe driver.