No One Takes Driver’s Education Seriously

Driving has been my biggest fear for the longest time in my life. Whenever I share this to anyone, I have never once been told that my fear was valid. I didn’t get a driver’s license till I was eighteen years old during my senior year of high school. I used to have panic attacks being in the driver’s seat, the thoughts of crashing the car would always been on my mind. I have thankfully gotten over this fear, however, I still take many steps on being careful on the road. And, I still see the same people my age, not take it as seriously as they should.

In the state of Missouri, we aren’t given a driver’s education course in our schools nor required to take one outside of school to get our licenses. Many people don’t the problem with this, but they need to take a look around once in a while. Many statistics have shown that the state of Missouri and the other few states that don’t require a driver’s education course to high schoolers, having statistically higher car crashes and deaths due to car crashes. Yet, I haven’t seen anyone point this out. Crash cars have been normalized, not the actual car crashes, but your friend being late to your get together due to the traffic. The traffic forming because of a car crash in the middle of the road.

Fortunately for many people, they haven’t had any personal experiences that have affected them to have the same mindset and fears as I have. This came to my mind after an assembly with a speaker about car accidents. This lady came in and talked about losing her best friend, her twin sister due to a car crash. I cried during it while everyone around me seemed bored, uninterested and felt like this was a waste of time. During that assembly, it finally came to my head that haven’t lost anyone, while I had.

My uncle used to go to the high school that I am currently attending, so did his brother, being my father. My father graduated, he never did. During that time period, my mother was dating my father, and my uncle was seventeen. He went to a party with his friends and had a fun time, but were both intoxicated. I personally don’t know the details, however, I do know that they both crashed and went flying through the windshield. My uncle’s friend was alive, while my uncle was crushed under the weight of the same car he was just in. Of course, my family got the news soon after. My mother once described seeing his dead body laid out on the kitchen table in front of everybody, and has never forgotten the image. My uncle was only seventeen years old, I never got to meet him, he never graduated from high school or went to college, never got to live much of his life. One phone call could have saved him. If he had made one phone call.

My family lectured me time and time again about the importance of driving and instilled the fear of driving in me. I was afraid of crashing the car. I was afraid of becoming another number of deaths due to car crashes. I was afraid of having my family see my dead body laid out in front of them. I promised myself and to the people I love to stay alive just by putting the phone down while driving. I promised my mother to call her if I needed a sober driver to take me home. I have done a lot, and all because I never got to see my uncle. The generational trauma from that day has affected my life, for the worse and for the better. I never got to see my uncle and my family is still affected by his death, but I have learned to be a safe driver. I had a teacher once, recognize my last name and asked about my family, since the last time she ever got to see them was after the news of the accident. It broke my heart that she was affected by his death so deeply. Being one of his old teachers.

The promise on staying there for your loved ones is more simple than you think, only a couple of steps. Put your down while driving. If you are drunk, call someone to pick you up and take you home. Follow the rules of the road. It’s better to be late than sorry. Follow the advise of my father, if you are late to work, don’t speed, go get some donuts for all your coworkers and boss instead. Everyone likes donuts. Stay safe on the road, and don’t make any stupid decisions, it could count the life of someone, a stranger, someone you love, or even your own life. Keep the promise of staying alive for the ones you love.