Safely Driving Away From the Statistics

As a 17-year-old, driver safety is still in the forefront of my mind. Only a year past my required driver’s education course, I’m still learning and applying what I learned as I have begun to adventure outside the bubble of my local community. This scholarship opportunity came at a coincidental time in my life as three students, two chaperones and a teacher from Tuscarawas Valley High School’s marching band were killed when a semi-truck barreled through the car holding the adults and hit the bus carrying the students on their way to perform at the Ohio School Boards Alliance Conference in Columbus. As a member of marching band, we are a tight community. This has left us all devastated with driver safety and distracted driving in the forefront of our minds. I never want to be on either end of such an incident.

A driver’s education course is required for anyone wanting a driver’s license in the state of Ohio. It requires twenty-four hours of classroom instruction and eight hours of in-car training with a state licensed instructor. I believe this course is vital in reducing the number of driving-related deaths. Not only did I learn to operate the vehicle, but I also learned defensive driving skills in the classroom and practiced those skills safely during our in-car training. I believe classroom learning is important, but nothing can replace the time spent practicing safely in real-time. My instructor put me in varying situations where I would be forced to make quick decisions and react to other drivers while calmly walking me through the situations. This practice goes a long way in ensuring I’m careful to do my part in reducing the number of driving related deaths.

I believe I can individually take steps to apply those skills learned and practiced in my driver’s education course to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Along with the obvious habits such as putting my phone down, not eating while driving or fussing with the radio or navigation, I can also apply the Smith System to safely maneuver on the road. The 5 keys to success that make up the Smith System include anticipating my future position, seeing the big picture, keeping my eyes on all sides of the road, having a way out and making sure other drivers see my movements. I believe if drivers avoid distracted driving and apply the Smith System, the number of driving related deaths would be significantly reduced.

I have had personal experience riding with people driving irresponsibly as well as those driving with the Smith System in mind. My scariest experience involved an upperclassman who was a friend of a friend. We were going to a local gas station with an eatery for snacks during a small break between school and marching band practice. He thought it was funny to speed and drive recklessly in what seemed an attempt to impress the girls in the car. The result was us calling another friend to come pick us up and take us back to school while he drove back alone. Opposing that experience, I was driving with a friend on the local outer belt once when a small herd of deer bounded out in front of traffic. Those in the lead realized they were trapped by a cement wall on the other side and turned to run back. Cars began hitting the deer causing them to fly in the air, coming down on other vehicles. There were deere everywhere. Fortunately, my friend was looking at the big picture and had left herself an out. We were able to switch lanes safely and were the only car out of the half dozen around us that took no damage. That was a valuable lesson I learned that day in the importance to applying those principles that day.

As I move forward in my driving life gaining more and more confidence, I believe it’s easy to become complacent. I want to hold myself and others accountable in responsible driving to avoid such complacency. I have noticed how many rules are bent if not outright broken by those who have been driving for a long time. I’ve noticed drivers not using turn signals, not turning into the appropriate lanes, texting, or talking while driving, not paying adequate attention to crosswalks and buses stopping to let students off to name just a few. I plan to keep a healthy amount of nervousness with my driving. I never want to become completely comfortable for I fear it will lead to laziness and ultimately lend itself to distracted driving or not maintaining those skills taught by the Smith System. It only takes once. The families of those 3400 people killed each year in driving related accidents experienced the worst day of their lives those days. I know from personal experience, to lose a close loved one is difficult. But to lose a close loved one to something preventable is agonizing. I hope to keep myself and those I ride with accountable with driving safely, so I never become or cause such a statistic.