You Learn a Lot When You Crash Into a Garage

When I was 16 years old, I was beyond ecstatic to be picking up my friends for the very first time without my parents in the passenger seat next to me. I grabbed my mom’s keys to her 2010 Hyundai, adjusted the mirrors, put the car in reverse, and turned on the radio. I knew that since this was my first time picking up my friends I just had to make sure it was perfect and the Bruno Mars song that was playing on the radio was not cutting it. Completely forgetting I had put the car in reverse, I grabbed my phone to pull up the perfect song, when I heard a deafening crash and scraping sound. I hadn’t put up the garage door causing the back end of my mom’s car to crash into the garage. My dad rushed in and just stared at the mess I had created, while Twenty-One Pilots filled the awkward silence. Five hundred dollars, two weeks of no driving, and a forty-five-minute lecture later I had learned my lesson to always pay attention while in the car.

Thankfully, my accident caused by distracted driving was a relatively small accident that only left my ego bruised and my mom’s car scratched. Sadly, this is not the case for thousands of Americans. Every year, the United States reports thousands of deaths caused by driving, making it one of the leading causes of death.

Yet, despite there being so many deaths, there is still a lack of information on how to prevent more vehicle-related deaths, especially among first-time drivers. While there are many driver education courses available to inform first-time drivers of defensive driving, the basics of driving etiquette, and how to prevent vehicular deaths, they are not all accessible to the general public. For example, in my home state of Nevada, none of the public schools offered any sort of driver education, nor were any free classes available outside of the mandatory DMV-issued class. While many third parties offered driver education, the prices ranged anywhere from 150 to 600 dollars, which was simply not affordable to my family. Therefore, everything I learned about driving came from my parents, including my dad’s constant lane changing.

The lack of available driver education means that younger drivers are more susceptible to learning dangerous road habits. Providing accessible, free driver education to everyone will not only ensure that people are learning good driving habits but it will also provide a place for those who do not have a support system to learn. It can also help teach drivers how to be alert, defensive drivers.

Along with free, accessible driver education, reiterating the importance of putting your phone down while driving, can save lives. We live in a time where our phones have become appendages to us, where we need to see the latest tweet from our favorite celebrity, text our best friend the picture of the license plate in front of us, or change the song to something less depressing than what is on our playlist. But even those three seconds of us looking down at our phones can be dangerous and put both our lives and others’ lives in danger. People must realize that their lives are more important than a retweet that will get 40 likes and put their phones down.

Shortly after my youngest sister received her driver’s license, my dad told us that our insurance offered a promotion where if we had an app that tracked our driving and phone usage in the car while driving we would get a discount for our car insurance. I rolled my eyes and downloaded the app because it was either downloading the app or paying for my car insurance. I always considered myself a safe driver, until I saw my weekly report. I then realized how much I pulled out my phone to change a song, clear a message, or answer a call. It was a humbling moment to see that on paper, your 16-year-old sister was a safer, better driver. As a result, my competitiveness kicked in and I decided that I would be the best family driver. I would put my phone on “Do Not Disturb” and would set my music playlist beforehand. It was a hard habit to break as I instinctively would grab my phone at every red light only to put it back down. Eventually, I learned to leave my phone alone when driving and it is something I still do even though I don’t have an app anymore tracking my driving.

Learning to put my phone down has helped me become more alert and attentive while driving. I have also learned to focus on the road rather than become preoccupied with my thoughts and start driving while mentally on “autopilot”.

Vehicles are a part of our everyday life, a day-to-day necessity. While not every accident can be stopped, by informing drivers of the importance of driver safety we can prevent more accidents. We can create a better and safer world for us and future posterities and we can start today by pledging to be an alert, safe driver.