The Cold, Hard, Truth: The DMV is a Snore

Crushed. Swathed in flames, dreams turned to dust. Another life cut short.

Deaths from vehicle crashes happen every 13 minutes. But, while accidents keep piling up, our average, simple day in my Driver’s Education Program will still continue as it usually does; after all, what else can it do? Hours have passed since school ended, yet we are still confined in a little classroom, learning content that we are too sleepy to memorize. With my peers dozing off, eyes blinking but not processing, and keyboard-clicking fingers that are stiff from boredom, I try to keep notes of what my instructor says. But, I know that no matter how many notes I take, the only thing my mind is focused on is leaving the classroom.

Teens are quite interesting in their own ways. Regular content that adults make can appear robotic and exhausting, even when they throw in a few “fun” facts and statistics. Harsher law enforcement, promotion of safe driving, and basic posters will only influence kids who are willing to listen (who likely already practice safe driving). You can tell them not to do something over and over again, but if they do not heartily believe what you are saying, they will forget to apply it when they most need to. Even if teens do process the content delivered in educational driving programs, many forget to apply it to their day-to-day basis, especially when they are distracted or under pressure. A few words from a friend group can quickly cause people to forget laws, as they giddily climb into the vehicle of their friend groups, only seeking to bond with them over some quality time together.

We frequently hear of car crashes in the news, resulting in getting more and more desensitized to deaths. Desensitization is inevitable, and a blessing in its own way; after all, if we didn’t become desensitized, we would succumb to worsened mental health or shock one day or another. But, as much as desensitization is a blessing, it is also a detriment. It causes us to think less about deaths happening… to us (especially for teens). Teens need to realize how real driving warnings are and how vehicular injuries can always happen to them. Accidents can happen anytime and anywhere. Some will never realize until it’s too late.

What needs to be taught in Driver’s Education Programs are not tedious slideshows and decade-old videos, displayed over and over again by a passion-less instructor, but modern stories. As indecent or childish as this may sound, what teens truly need to see are Reddit stories. Reddit stories can gain up to millions of views and likes, and reach out to the hearts of many. Although we cannot distinguish between reality and fiction, and whether or not the stories of Redditors are true or not, they are still good for instilling caution and safety in readers. There are numerous real stories from teens, who either talk about times of good intuition (rejecting something “normal” that turned out to be dangerous) or when their loved ones have suffered from vehicle accidents.

As someone who uses social media, I have seen a multitude of Reddit stories that I continue to remember today when I drive. For example, a few months ago I read about a girl who needed to be driven home but only had her two drunk friends. They reassured her that they would be able to safely drop her off at home, despite their state of mind. Being desperate, she allowed them to drive her; she almost lost her life. Her drunk friends sped extremely fast on a highway, without a care in the world. She was only able to halt them after begging them to stop and threatening to throw up. I encountered another example the day I wrote this essay as well, featuring another girl. She and her friend were invited by their other underage friends to join them in riding in the back of someone’s truck for fun. Luckily, her friend’s great intuition led her to reject their invitations, so she ended up backing out too. As a result of not driving with her underage friends, her life and physical health were spared; the friends who drove received horrific injuries on their bodies, as a result of the truck crashing. With those Reddit stories, many others like me became terrified of the possibility of those stories happening. As a result, we subconsciously became much more cautious when driving under the influence or allowing someone to drive them.

Therefore, if the DMV truly wants to reduce dangerous driving habits, such as driving under the influence, texting while driving, or using social media, the key is to implement relatable, current stories into the curriculum.