Driving while Maintaining Safety

2025 Driver Education Round 3

Driving while Maintaining Safety

0 votes

Koren I.k. Carter

Bronx, New York

As you already know, I'm an aspiring driver who also looks forward to attending college and getting driving experience. As any other high school student would tell you, we all know the buzz and the rush you feel when you get your permit and begin to prepare to receive your license. Well, in maintaining that same mindset, I also anticipate the difficulties in driving and the need for safety. In that same respect, I'd like to detail the definition/various pieces of importance that are a part of driving safety. This includes impaired driving, driving education and traffic schools, and the factors affecting real-world driving situations.
First off is the definition of impaired driving and what it means to me. Impaired driving is defined as driving a vehicle while under the influence. To me, this means choosing to drive whilst not fully in your right mind and compromising your ability to drive safely and others' safety whilst on the road. At times, it is sometimes misunderstood because people worry about the quantity it takes to be seen as under the influence, or even state that they can handle themselves. This is even misunderstood by drivers who have completed driver’s education or traffic school because they feel capable and underestimate the power of such factors. Overall, the topic of impaired driving is highly important and at times misunderstood due to the lack of enforcement to value it and to master it, as in driving schools, things like types of turns and parking seem to take precedent.
Secondly are the types of impairment that include: alcohol, drugs, texting, and fatigue. These are the most common among drivers today because of societal factors, fast-paced culture, false senses of security, and how attention-grabbing technology is. These impairments affect the driver's driving ability and therefore contribute to unsafe behavior. This is shown through the fact that they can impair decision-making, judgment, and vehicle control. These types of impairment are very well, focused on in driving schools, as a majority of accidents are due to these impairments. Along with this fact, as you first start off driving, you try to maintain as close to the rules as possible and limit such impairments, but as you grow into more of a skilled driver, you can become more lackadaisical. I strive not to be in such a manner, as in becoming so relaxed, it risks you being a part of the accidents you were taught not to repeat.
Thirdly, the topic of driving education and traffic schools, and their relation to driving safety. This topic is very cut and dry and simple to understand, but I'd like to raise the questions of: How can such schools be improved to limit car accidents? How can driver’s education and traffic school courses help change attitudes and behaviors around impaired driving? In response, these schools can be improved by highlighting all the factors of driving. What I mean is, instead of mainly focusing on things like parking, signage, and types of turns, there should be equal focus on all factors and equal reinforcement on each topic to ensure proper recall. In addition, driver's education and traffic school courses can help change their attitudes and behaviors around impaired driving by even acting on refresher courses by the driving instructors and testing to reteach the teachers on topics they may not have studied since initially receiving their driver's license. Along with this, attitudes can change by also having those schools' licensing being based on the factors of how they teach things like impaired driving. Overall, driving education can be improved greatly, and is heavily responsible for the standard's drivers have when it comes to what is driving safely and what they value and consider important.
Overall, the role I can play in preventing impaired driving is modeling responsibility, helping educate my peers, and just taking action to limit my own friends from taking risks while impaired. My knowledge and training could influence others to make safer decisions through the fact that I could persuade others to be safe drivers and ensure a future generation of safe drivers/pedestrians too. On the other hand, I've never personally experienced impaired driving, but I've heard stories of people dying in a car crash due to the consumption of alcohol. This has shaped my awareness and influenced the choices I'd make behind the wheel, as I've been more deeply encouraged to maintain focus behind the wheel and be safe rather than sorry. As making such mistakes can be truly detrimental to my own and others' lives, let alone the loss of my license, what about the loss of lives?