Ashley – Driver Education Initiative Award – Annual Scholarship Opportunity

As a Los Angeles teenager driving to and from school, I am greatly affected by the other drivers on the road. Daily, I see people on their phones, putting on their make-up, and talking to other people in the car especially teenagers and their friends. When these drivers finally look out or focus back on the roads, they typically slam on their brakes which sometimes causes accidents. It is dangerous and sometimes scary out there, but I love driving because it makes me feel independent so I have a few ideas about driving safely.

When I think about what can be done to decrease the number of deaths due to driving, I think about what I do to be a better driver. First, I took driver’s education seriously. Next, my parents taught me how to drive offensively and defensively. Fortunately, I have not been in a car accident, but I have been in the car when someone was distracted while driving and I told them how I felt while they drove. Lastly, I will share how to plan to stay safe and to help others stay safe.

Take driver’s education seriously! I was so excited to drive that I breezed through my driver’s education class. My friends said I only needed to watch the videos, so I did that. I did not read the manual. When I went to take the permit test, I failed the first time and the DMV assessor told me to read the manual and I will pass the test. I was so embarrassed because I told all my friends I was coming home with my license. I really wanted to get to the driving part of the test so I reviewed the parts of the video that covered the questions I got wrong. I failed the test again. Again, a different DMV assessor told me to read the manual to pass the test Finally, I read the manual and I passed the test.

Drive for me and them. My parents let me know that I have to drive to get where I’m going and to be aware of how others are driving to stay safe. We took the 6 months of practice with my permit seriously. At each red light, they mentioned if I saw certain people or situations while driving and to be aware of them. After each lesson, there was a debrief about what went well and what could have been better.It was a lot but it built my confidence and awareness.

My experience driving safe. My parents laid down some rules for my driving which were attached to my access to their cars so I laid down the same rules for my friends. To see if everyone would stick to these rules when I started driving to school, my mom allowed my friends to sit in the front seat while she sat in the back. We did this for about 4-5 months until she felt comfortable with how I was driving with my friends who are potential distractors, in the front seat. I didn’t think it would work because she was in the back seat but eventually, my friends forgot about her back there and started to act like themselves. Some of my friends stuck to the rules because they were just happy that we were driving. My other friends broke the rules by trying to show me their phones to see something while I was driving, I told them they would lose their ride if they kept trying to distract me because I would lose my privileges. In most cases, my friends changed how they acted in my car, and in other cases, I stopped giving rides to my friends who might make me lose my privilege. I have to remind my friends of the rules every once in a while (we are teenagers) but overall, I drive safely with my friends in the car. An unexpected consequence is that my friends’ parents liked the way our family approached my start to drive so we made a small impact!

Staying safe. Even though my impact is small, it is proof that teenagers are the best way to decrease driving-related deaths among teenagers. Social influence is our whole world; whatever our friends do, we do, and whatever we do, our friends. It’s just the way we are. When more teenagers have consequences attached to their driving privileges, they will take it seriously and make their friends take it seriously too. And their parents have to be willing to make sure that they support good driving habits.

When I think about other ways to lower driving-related deaths, I think about some apps and systems that help. I have heard about car systems that monitor driving and override the driver when the driving is dangerous. People can set the standards for how they want their teens to drive and monitor their driving, but these systems can be expensive so not everyone can