The Beauty of Positive Peer Pressure

The privilege of driving is something that many people take for granted. You go through the motions, take the classes necessary, and pass the tests just to get out on the road and forget all the rules they tried so hard to engrave in your brain. Unfortunately, many teens and adults in this day and age practice reckless or distracted driving. This is a danger, not only to themselves but also to others on the road and in their vehicle. Whether it’s a phone, music being too loud or trying to have a conversation with someone in the backseat. Whatever it may be, the driver needs to know the weight they carry when being in control of such a large piece of equipment. Luckily, certain things can be taught, or certain measures can be taken to make sure that a driver understands their responsibility.

For example, while in drivers ed an instructor can talk all day about how distracted driving is extremely harmful to everyone on the road, including the driver and their passengers. Unfortunately, this message will more than likely go through one ear and out the other when it comes to young drivers. All they want is to be out on the road and free from parental control. Therefore, to grab their attention a bit more, it is important to make the issue a bit more personal and to give visuals as to what can happen when one partakes in distracted driving. While I was in driver’s ed, my instructor made good use of videos to ensure that we got a grasp of the gravity of the situation. We were able to get a glimpse of the hurt experienced by the families of the victims who were injured or even killed in an accident by a reckless driver. Along with, seeing personal interviews of the teens that crashed the cars and how they have to deal with the pain and guilt of causing the accident.

As harsh as some of the videos may seem, they are meant to show the kids the weight of their decisions. Even more important is getting the kids to relate personally to these situations to grab their attention even more. Again, in my driver’s ed class, we were given an assignment where we had to find a story about a crash or some accident that had occurred recently near us in the newspaper. The other option was to share a personal story about a family member or friend you know who had been in an accident. For this assignment, I was able to share about the loss of my grandparents in a car accident and how certain rules of the road have been put in place now to ensure that an accident like theirs does not happen again. All in all, the kids need something to relate to or think back on to make sure they are making wise decisions on the road.

Regardless of these measures taken by the driving schools, teens and adults alike will more than likely become distracted while driving at least once if not continually on the road. Sometimes it just comes down to a little positive peer pressure. If you are on a road trip while a friend is driving you and others, try kindly stating that you don’t feel comfortable with them being on their phone. While it may be uncomfortable in the moment, it could save so many lives. This goes for yourself as well. A lot of people learn better by watching than by listening. Therefore, it is good to lead by example when you are the one in the driver’s seat and make sure that your friends are seeing you playing out the actions that you expressed so passionately about before. After all, it is so easy to think that you are skilled enough or have been driving long enough that you could practically drive with your eyes closed, but in all reality, you are not the only factor on the road that plays into a crash. While you might think you are looking at the road enough or there seems to be nothing that could go wrong on the open road, you never know when external factors could come into play. Things such as a deer booking it out of the woods, something flying out of a car, or a vehicle slamming on their brakes out of nowhere. Thus, even when you look up MOST of the time, that one millisecond that you are looking anywhere but the road is an open opportunity to throw you off your game and cause an incident that you will carry with you for the rest of your life. In the end, it is important to take your classes seriously and realize that they are there for a purpose. Also, remember the power of some peer advice. Lastly, set a good example for those around you so that they can see the beauty and safety of being a focused driver.