The Student Becomes the Teacher

I am the only child of two very involved helicopter parents, so you can imagine my experience when I was learning to drive. No matter who was in the passenger seat, I was given non-stop pointers, rebukes, and commentary. If someone had been filming the theatrics, the resulting video would’ve gone viral. My mother slapped the dashboard so many times, she had to start wearing a wrist brace. My father pumped the imaginary brake on the passenger side. They gasped, they covered their eyes, and they’d stagger out of the car. You would think they had invented driving, and I was wearing a blindfold with a weight around my ankle.

When I started driving school, however, the script was flipped. I started noticing that Mr. and Mrs. Law-Abiding Perfect Driver were hit-and-miss when it came to some traffic laws. I was now able to point out their bad habits much to their dismay. Just like other drivers who have had their licenses for a while, my parents know the rules but can be lax about them. Since I’m a new driver, I love pointing out my superior driving skills and their transgressions.

“Did you know you must come to a full-stop at a stop sign, Dad?”

“Are you aware you’re doing 80 in a 65 zone, Mom?”

My parents consider themselves safe drivers; probably all adults do. People the world over may have differences of culture, religion, politics, but probably everyone thinks the same thing—they’re aces at driving. That is what lulls them into complacency. I believe everyone should have to do some kind of test or license renewal refresher course every so often. This seems reasonable given the amount of accidents with motorists. Driving isn’t a right. It’s a privilege and a serious responsibility. Most people may forget basic traffic laws or need a refresher course, and maybe reeducating them once in a while would improve the fatal statistics.

Again, I use my parents as the example. My driving teacher told me that, when I want to change lanes, I should start signaling and the person in the lane I am trying to get into will speed up. It makes it easy to merge instead of trying to beat that same driver out. When I pointed this out to my mom when she was driving one day, she said she had never thought of it that way. She liked that path of least resistance. Even an old dog—I mean, mom—can learn new tricks. My driving teacher also stressed how speeding is the major cause of death in accidents. It is really a waste of time because, if you do the math, you’re not really making up more than a minute or two. That fact impressed my Dad. We made a pact that, no matter what, I’d always leave with plenty of time in order to get to school, and we have actually made it a habit to give ourselves plenty of time wherever we’re going. We’re now the butt of a lot of jokes since we show up everywhere early, but I appreciate that they’re showing me good habits, trying to break their bad ones.

Since I am a new driver, I am killing it. I obey all the rules. I smile patiently when someone honks me from behind because I come to a full stop. I would never think of using drugs or alcohol before getting behind the wheel; in fact, this past weekend, I got home after curfew because I wanted to make sure my friend got into an UBER safely because she went too far at a party. I’m a model of responsibility. But, I am human. In my hubris, I had a fender bender near a busy intersection two blocks from my home. A lot of people I know saw me, and I wanted the ground to swallow me up. I got to a red light, remembered I had to pick up something from the grocery store for my mom, and wanted to back into a spot before a car came up behind me; so, I floored it and wound up hitting a parked car so hard, my bumper fell off. As you can imagine, my parents and I had a long discussion about the incident; the conclusion was that I had been too cocky. I need to remain humble and respectful of the tremendous responsibility it is to operate a motor vehicle. EVERYONE needs that reminder.