SALT LAKE CITY — When you think about the rules of the road, simple things that are taught in the first few days of driving school can make all the difference.
Lessons such as going the speed limit, slowing down at a yellow light and checking your mirrors before changing lanes may feel unnecessary at times but those small checklist items can prevent big problems.
"It's not really that we don't know what to do," explained Brent Hawkins, a Driver's Education Instructor at Herriman High School. "But we're so comfortable with doing it, that we get away from it a little bit."
Hawkins says many crashes are caused by people who forget the little things.
"Most of them are due to just forgetting the basics like going the speed limit, signaling and head checking...scanning your mirrors," he said.
These simple practices aren't just for brand new drivers, they are also for parents and experienced drivers too.
"It's very important for the parents because they're modeling what the students will do," Hawkins said. "And then I get to see what they're modeling and try to correct the students and hopefully, that gets back to the parents and reminds them that these things are very important and keep them safe."
After a long day, most drivers want to get home fast and will take shortcuts in their driving safety, but Hawkins explained stakes are too high to cut corners.
"I'm no more important than anybody else," he said. "And they're no more important than me but we're sharing the road and we all want everybody to get where they're going safely and it doesn't take much to make sure that happens."
