My views on Drivers ed

By Italy C. lee

     What is the importance of driver education in reducing the number?Drivers ed is mainly for teens because of course they are the new drivers around, but it costs too much and some teens rather not have to pay that much and just drive without really understanding the roads! 

Starting off…. drivers ed is to teach new drivers about the road and laws of the road, if more people took the drivers ed test than everyone can be aware of the importance of knowing the laws. According to iihs.org there have been 40,901 deaths which were caused by car crashes in 2023 and, according to the risk factor, about 3,048 deaths caused by newly teen drivers. Although they passed their test it is not 100% that they took that information into consideration for the roads. Having drivers ed available to people more so the new drivers is very useful.

What steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving?Drivers should always have a seat belt on , and maybe hearing stories about other drivers will maybe make new drivers see this risk that comes with not paying attention. Personally I never had a family or friend die from a driving accident, but id assume its the worst thing anyone could hear. Also I was never in an accident so I cant speak on how someone must feel hearing that someone they cared about was involved in something like that.

What steps can you take to be a better and safer driver as well as help others become safer on the road? And what role can you personally play in preventing impaired driving? How could your knowledge or training influence others to make safer decisions? Presentations , because if an adult told you to not text and drive or drink and drive you most likely wouldn't listen. Adults are always telling kids/teens what to do but if another teen tells you something you're more often than not going to listen because it's someone around your age. These presentations don't have to be long or too short . It should be right to the point , but with a clear message showing that most driving accidents happen when people don't follow road laws. Will everyone listen no but will most maybe, now if they choose to listen and really see what a small change can do that's all it takes, getting a group of teens or just drivers anywhere and having them listen to people tell their story based on their previous experiences would help.

How can driver’s education and traffic school courses help change attitudes and behaviours around impaired driving? What makes these programmes effective in real-world situations? 

Something I see that could maybe help, I suggest that if there was a company or place that gave students a free lesson people may want to do the program. Meaning if there's discounted drivers ed class during summer break or fall break around schooling more students would want to join, by the time summer comes everyone would want to take the test and be ready to drive. 

Have you ever experienced or heard a story that changed the way you think about impaired driving? How did it shape your awareness or influence the choices you make behind the wheel?

Ive never been in a car crash, but ive head some stories about people, honestly it really did change my ways of thinking because if people just follow the rules most crashes wouldnt happen, im not driving im still reading my book but when I hear people telling these stories on how something so little made them swerve that does something to a new drive as myself, because that could be me but, knowing that something like that and people die from small actions are some to take serious to take in. 

What types of impairment, such as alcohol, drugs, texting, or fatigue, are most common among drivers today? How do they affect driving ability and contribute to unsafe behaviour? Well drinking and driving and texting , I was just watching a video of  a lady texting and driving on a dash camera. So I knew that was true, texting and driving is distracting because your full focus isn't on the road anything can happen within a split second even if your trying to multitask , it's better to just keep your eyes on the road rather than trying to send that last messages , not only is your life at risk but whoever else's to.