Could improved driver education aid in lowering accidents, causalities, tickets, and road hazards? And could Manual cars assist in saving the day?

Roads are a dangerous place that has resulted in the deaths of over a million people. I know it’s impossible to stop accidents altogether, but I believe that improved driver education could lower the current rate of these casualties.

Having better driving schools can offer more comprehensive and up-to-date education. This can cover many vital aspects, such as defensive driving techniques, increased knowledge of road rules and signs, and improved ethical driving behavior. Better curriculums can equip new drivers with the necessary understanding and skills to navigate complex traffic solutions, anticipate possible hazards, and make informed decisions on the road. The effect that improved curriculums can have on new drivers can help give them a better understanding of safer driving behavior, thus helping to reduce accidents.

Higher-quality driving schools will recruit more skilled and experienced instructors familiar with all current traffic laws and regulations. These instructors provide a better learning experience to driving students by passing along their valuable knowledge and wisdom while also keeping these new drivers within the legal lines. This can help students become more skilled and responsible drivers, ultimately leading to safer driving behavior and fewer accidents.

Better driving schools will use more “Hands On” techniques. This approach allows students to experience many situations firsthand using critical thinking and developing muscle memory. This also helps students become familiar with how the vehicle operates, what defensive driving techniques work for them, and how to handle emergencies. Many schools have started introducing virtual driving simulators to let students experience these things without the risks. These driving simulators can be very complex and even provide the driver with accurate response, physics, and even feeling. It can help a student focus and create an environment with less stress while also allowing instructors to simulate situations that will help the students avoid horrific accidents. This affects driver education by increasing real-world driving experience, causing students to develop confidence and competence in real roads.

Improved driving schools tend to emphasize defensive driving techniques. Students will learn to anticipate drivers’ actions, identify potential hazards, and react proactively to prevent accidents. Teaching these students defensive driving techniques is very beneficial in reducing accidents, especially fatal ones. Students with good defensive driving skills reduce the likelihood of accidents and causalities. This can be done in many ways and is generally practiced with verbal, virtual, and physical simulations, and this has a positive effect on students and their ability to perform in tricky situations to avoid dangerous situations. An improved driving school will not only teach its students how to operate a vehicle but they can also emphasize the importance of safe, responsible, and ethical driving behavior. This focuses on driver ethics and the possible consequences of irresponsible behavior to discourage negative habits that lead to tickets and/or accidents. The results effectively instill ethical driving behaviors that can cause students to make more responsible choices on the road, which assists in reducing both tickets and accidents. Many schools will actually allow students to use “Drunk Googles” while in simulators or while driving a golf cart on a closed course with precautions to show what happens if you try to operate a vehicle while intoxicated. More intensive training programs, improved curriculum, and more dedicated instructors produce drivers better equipped to handle various situations. This, in turn, reduces the chances of drivers being more of a threat to other drivers. Effects include: Driving graduates are more skilled and less likely to cause accidents, and we can prevent the drivers who “Don’t care enough” about the importance of driving and the possible risks it can hold from obtaining a license and getting on the road and causing more harm than good.

Many other countries still continue to teach all students to drive stick-shift cars as they can help drivers keep their attention on the road and their vehicles rather than on devices or other things. This is helpful, as many incidents today are due to distracted drivers. I believe the return of manual cars could assist in helping reduce the number of accidents. At first, this may seem too challenging to learn and could cause more accidents as people wouldn’t know how to drive this type of transmission. I believe that these transmissions could actually aid in a long-term understanding. They are a big help in assisting attention to the road and giving the students a better understanding of how the car operates and what can cause it to either gain or lose traction, break things, and so much more. Bringing back more manual transmissions as a prerequisite to obtaining a driver’s license could help sort through many drivers and give a more profound understanding of the driver’s car, how it operates, and how to avoid some tricky situations.

Another factor in many of these accidents is mechanical failure of vehicles and little knowledge or insignificant understanding of cars. When you drive on the road, you will notice many cars that appear to be falling apart and even more making odd noises; your car may even sound off at times. A huge issue here is that people don’t understand that these strange noises could cause harm to your vehicle, and the ignorance of having the car checked out may cost your wallet a hefty amount or even your life. Imagine that you have been hearing a screeching noise from your brakes that you have ignored for the past month, and now you are driving on the highway. You spot traffic ahead and step on the brakes, but you don’t slow down. That sound was the brakes trying to warn you that there wasn’t much left. Now it’s too late, and because driver education didn’t teach you what to do in this situation or what that noise could have meant, you are in a potentially lethal situation. You don’t know what to do and don’t have time to figure it out… so you rear-end all the cars in front of you, going 50 mph faster than them. Enhanced driver education could have taught you what that sound could have been or, at the very least, to shift the car in neutral, try the handbrake, and steer slightly off the road until stopping. Many other countries teach essential car maintenance and understanding of various issues. But when in doubt, it’s always a good idea to have a mechanic inspect it. So many issues can be caused by mechanical failure of vehicles, and not having the advantage of even small amounts of what to do can help drastically. Manual transmission-style cars can actually improve upon this.

The Conclusion: The evidence presented in this causal argument establishes the significant impact of better driving schools and how they should be able to lower accidents, casualties, tickets, and inexperienced/unskilled drivers. This can also help reserve much-needed police resources for more critical matters like gun control and keeping the community safe in other ways. Improved driver education can assist the acquisition of essential skills and knowledge, leading to safer driving behaviors and reducing road hazards. Many foreign schools already implement many of these things into their curriculums while increasing the hours spent behind the wheel by many multiples of what we request in the United States and teaching essential car maintenance and understanding. Investing in enhanced driver education is vital to creating safer roadways for everyone.

References

Mohn, T. (2019, July 12). Is driver’s ed good enough? most Americans don’t think so. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2019/07/11/is-drivers-ed-good-enough-most-americans-dont-think-so/?sh=7505faa23367

Primo.rowan.edu. (n.d.-a). https://primo.rowan.edu/permalink/01ROWU_INST/mgcbt1/alma9921124824805201
Primo.rowan.edu. (n.d.-b).

https://primo.rowan.edu/permalink/01ROWU_INST/ttegd8/cdi_crossref_primary_10_14311_APP_2023_41_0079

We buy any car® blog posts. How Other Countries Learn to Drive. (n.d.). https://www.webuyanycarusa.com/blogs/view/how_other_countries_learn_to_drive

Simon, S. (2023, July 17). How many people die from car accidents each year?. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/auto-accident/car-accident-deaths/