Watching Him Grow Up

We all let some things go while driving nowadays. As we gain more experience driving, we start to take the small actions for granted and often disregard them entirely. My younger brother has just begun his driver’s education course. As the oldest of three, I have a hard time watching my younger siblings grow up. I came home from college to my brother asking if he could drive me all around our city. This was the boy I had left just nine months before that still had a squeaky voice and was far too young to be driving, in my opinion anyway. Watching him learn to drive, especially as an overprotective older sibling, has opened my eyes to just how important driver education and awareness is when it comes to protecting yourself and others on the road.

There have been many instances in which I find myself explaining some reasoning behind the “why” of driving. Why should you look in your rearview mirror before you hit your brake? Why should you check your blindspot multiple times? Why do you slow down when you approach a stoplight that is not freshly green? My brother sits in the driver seat and asks these questions as we drive. It is refreshing to see a young driver, music off, hands in their respective position on the wheel, and eyes on the road all the time, not once looking away. It is these small actions that get overlooked once a student receives their license. When it comes to decreasing the amount of automobile related deaths, it is important that as a society, we truly take a step back and realize what the issue is, and that is carelessness. We can be told many times in our life that safe driving is necessary, but how much do we truly care when it comes to making the safe decisions? Since I have been along for the rides with my brother, I have noticed things about my own driving that I am now much more aware of and have been working to adjust. Teaching someone else how to drive truly makes you over-analyze the habits you have while driving. As my brother asked each of those “why” questions, I took the time to explain exactly what those actions were doing. This made me realize that a lot of the time, these actions are more of a habit, something that I do because that is what we were told to do, not because it keeps me safe and alert. One very simple step we as a community can take is to recognize those habits and begin to prioritize our safety as well as others on the road.

An experience that stands out to me that I had with my brother was a simple missed exit. We were driving to the mall, a farther drive with freeway experience that would be newer to him. The exit we were taking is an easy one to miss and even with experience, I often drive by it. As we came around the corner, just like that, the exit passed by. Now, a driver who may have some experience would quickly check their blindspot and race across the lines to get to their exit. My brother, a new driver, panicked as my other family members in the car got mad at him for missing the turn. My mom told him to cut across those lines and reach that exit so that we would not be behind schedule. I realized at this moment that his choice to miss that exit and proceed to the next one was the safest option. He did not have the time to react let alone check his blind spots and proceed to cross two lanes into an exit. He could have cut cars off, not been able to slow down enough once he entered the exit, or worst of all, crashed the car. We put this off as him just being a new driver, he cannot react fast because he does not have the experience to do so. As we continued our drive, I sat with this and realized that the importance of making smart decisions as such creates a much safer driving environment for everyone on the road. It is oftentimes those split second decisions that end badly, or in some cases, fatally. As a driver, we are in full control of the car and ourselves, this is such an important factor of how we can protect everyone on the road. Be aware, alert, and intentional with every action while driving.