The Devil We Know

When you become sixteen years old, a whole new realm of access to the lives of other people is given to you with minimal driver instruction and experience on the roads. From the moment I got my driver’s license until now, every time I get in a vehicle, I hold other people’s lives in my hands. Because the access to vehicles is increasingly needed in society for commutes in everyday life, more lives are inevitably at the risk of danger. This is not to say that the majority of these risks could be mitigated with safer driving practices, education, and limiting vehicle use in general when possible. As driving is consistently one of the leading contributors for fatalities and injuries, it makes sense that we need strong revision towards our driver education and policies.

Thinking holistically across the United States, driver education varies. I was taught from a mix of online instruction and lessons from my parents; however, some people decide to go to a driving school and attain their education that way. Either way, education and policy vary which could potentially cause discrepancies. Laws in the United States could also be a contributing factor. When I was sixteen, I felt a lot older than I was and even still did not understand the responsibility of driving to its full extent naturally because I was still at such a developmental point in my life. Looking back now, I question this law entirely. I look at family and friends younger than me driving and cannot help to think they are so young yet have so much power to affect change in their lives and in people’s lives on the road. I speculate why the age to attain a license is sixteen, yet you must be eighteen to potentially sign your life away to war. Don’t both of these present major risk factors considering that driving fatalities in the United States hold more deaths than the number of soldiers that have died in Iraq and Afghanistan combined? Why does the law present a developing sixteen-year-old with these risks, but deem military service to be adulthood strictly? I think as a society we can take steps to reduce these consistent driving fatality and injury rates through evidence-based approaches. Since there are discrepancies in driver education regarding where you get it from and how informative the information actually is, if we come to one final platform incorporating all learning styles, we could demonstrate concise unified knowledge across the country. Additionally, I believe the education protocols should be stricter. I know of people taking online driving courses, who since it was online, skipped the videos and found corresponding quizlets online in order to take the mandatory quizzes. This needs to be stricter as this is crucial information that could help save lives. Another step towards reform could be to increase the driving age. This might be controversial as families vary and sometimes children need to be the adults of the house or make things meet on their own terms, but these times are developmental. When compared to the age law of the military, it is clear that driving holds major risk factors, yet is fed to us so early when we are children.

As a little girl, I have seen drunk driving happen firsthand. I lived in a smaller town where the roads were far from the houses of citizens as they were separated by long front yards. It would have seemed hard to crash a car through a fence, into the side of my neighbor’s house, but under the intoxication of drugs and/ or alcohol comorbid with getting into a vehicle, anything is possible. I am only twenty years old and have been in two car accidents in which someone else was driving and had my life in their hands. I have lived a short time, but enough to see my best friend take their safety for granted while driving under the influence of alcohol. They faced detrimental legal repercussions which consisted of being in a holding cell, having a DUI on their permanent record forever, and having to take a breathalyzer anytime they drove their car. It is alarming that in my friend group alone, people who I thought to share similar beliefs growing up, driver education varies and is taken for granted. I have seen a classmate have their life taken away from them while driving irresponsibly. In my short time, these instances have aged me. They have led me to, in the worst case, grieve for loss, distance myself from friends, or feel disappointment in the lack of education my peers represented.

In efforts to make myself a safer driver on the road as well as my peers I can continue to do research on likely risk factors that could lead to driving fatalities and injuries. I think doing specific research about how your specific make and model of car is also important about understanding the vehicle. Increased knowledge in your vehicle before you drive can help reduce risks. For example, understanding what the warning symbols on your car do, knowing how the wheels operate for your vehicle, where the engine is, etc. can all be helpful in prevention. Climate changes can also be a major risk in vehicle related deaths and injuries, so better understanding about how to drive safely in a multitude of environmental factors could be helpful. Overall education is the greatest tool in evidence-based interventions and can serve as a primary preventative. I can continue to monitor my peers, friends, and family’s driving, making sure we are all as safe as possible. I can also check in on people who are drinking or intoxicated needing rides to help mitigate driving under the influence and the potential risks involved with this. Knowledge and learning opportunities need to be more accessible for something we use every day, risking lives each time.