From Fear to Freedom

I used to absolutely hate driving. It’s ironic, usually all teenagers can’t wait to get behind the wheel and start driving to the nearest Chick-Fil-A, but not me, I stayed stubbornly as far away from the driver’s seat as I could. When all anyone could talk about in my school was what color their car was going to be my hesitation to leave the nest, or in this case the driveway weighed down on me.

When I tell you the only thing I knew about driving was how many sides a stop sign had, I mean it, and that ignorance resulted in something akin to a “phobia.” To me the 68% of drivers who experience car accidents were enough for me to stay away from all cars period. I couldn’t imagine myself being in control of a rolling metal death box that was more likely to crash than not, and of course all the stories of people totaling their own cars didn’t help. One of my friends would brag about going over 200 miles an hour down dark country roads and another got so drunk that he ended up flipping his car into a ditch and running from the cops. No, driving was not for me and for a while that’s how I thought it was going to be, at least, until I took my very first driver’s-ed class.

In an ironic twist of fate, the first thing I learned is the importance of “remaining calm.” If you start hydroplaning, remain calm. If your tire blows out, remain calm. If you go off road? Remain. Calm. You couldn’t panic, or else you would most likely die, and as a girl who had more anxiety about driving than a 5-lb chihuahua, this was a tough pill to swallow. The best way to drive safely is to be aware at all times. It’s why you can’t drive, text, or smoke while behind the wheel, and why my anxiety was so hard to overcome. Fear clouds judgement, it always has, and for a while I was stuck in my own personal loop. Get in my own head while driving, I mess up which adds to my anxiety and the cycle repeats itself until eventually, I shut down. But of course my instructor came in to help me. She took the time to go over some breathing techniques to help calm me down while on the road. Without those little practices I’m not sure I would have survived the highways. It’s why keeping control over yourself is so critical to surviving on the road, and thankfully I was able to do that.

We also learned about what I like to call TAT. TAT or Teens, Alcohol, and Texting, was an acronym for the top three reasons for car accidents in my area. Teens, because the majority of car accidents happen with new drivers, alcohol because getting drunk dulled the senses you needed for driving, and texting which actively took your eyes off the road. It baffled me that each of these were so common, why on earth, when I could barely drive at all, were people attempting to multitask? However, the way the course was set up taught us how to identify and stop signs of distracted driving. In fact, I’m sure that it’s saved my life a few times. When friends begin to get distracted on the road by their phone or friends I’ve made sure to keep it out of their reach or shut down any conversations. If they’ve been drinking I’m always the one who calls an uber or asks my parents to pick them up and drop them off safely and soundly. To me their lives always come first and like all of my nightmare scenarios, Driver’s Ed gave me a plan of action to put a stop to them and because of them I am a safer driver for it.

In a world where cars are our one way to get around the best way you can be a safer driver is to pay attention. Your focus, when behind the wheel cannot be anywhere but the road which is why inebriating substances and your phone are some of the most deadly killers. I’m a safer driver because Driver’s Ed taught me how to read the road and control my own emotions in tricky situations. Today I view driving as a time to put away everything and just let my mind focus on the road. Such a sharp contrast between where I started and where I am now is all because of Driver’s Ed.