Because We Matter

As someone who has sisters who have been in a near-death car crash, I can wholeheartedly testify that driver education is an essential learning basis to have before hitting the road. Driver education, according to the dictionary, is “a course of study, as for high school students, that teaches the techniques of driving a vehicle, along with basic vehicle maintenance, safety precautions, and traffic regulations and laws” (dictionary.com). Without learning the basics, drivers are ignorant of safe driving and the baseline driving expectations.

For drivers, there are many steps we can take to reduce the amount of deaths related to driving. The first, and most important, is to take a drivers education course. Within the course simple yet significant things will be taught; how to be a defensive driver, the consequences of drinking and driving, adjusting based on road/weather conditions, the traffic laws in your state, and being fully present while driving–not being on your phone or distracted by the things going on around you.

It was the night of Wednesday, July 21, 2021, when the devastating tragedy fell upon my family. My two older sisters went out for a drive that night to get food. Dallas, my sister who was fifteen at the time, was driving. Unfortunately, my sister Reagan, who was seventeen then, permitted her to do so. Because Dallas was unprepared–had not taken driver’s education and learned the essentials of driving–the night ended in a near-death experience. Reagan was on Facetime with her friend which made her unaware of what was going on around her. Dallas drove on a dark, long, back-country-looking road. While driving, she assumed the road would go straight for a long time. She was going eighty miles per hour. As someone without a driver’s license. In the dark. Disastrously, the road took a wide right turn. Sure enough, Dallas kept flying straight forward. Panicked, she slammed on the brakes, but for as fast as she was going she couldn’t slow enough before they slammed into a tree. The car was crushed. Reagan was knocked unconscious. Dallas thought she killed her sister. Long story short, through a great deal of therapy, counseling, and time to heal, they are both well and thriving today. I acknowledge this is not the case for everybody. It is a blessing and a miracle that they both lived and healed back to normal. I also realize this situation could’ve ended in two deaths and me losing two of my sisters.

After experiencing that tragedy from the sideline, I understand why driver education is important. Had both of my sisters Dallas and Reagan taken driver’s education, I would be certain that this terrible event would not have happened. Driver’s education would have equipped them to make better decisions. It would have taught Reagan that it is irresponsible and unsafe to allow a minor who does not have her driver’s license to drive at night without an adult with a driver’s license present.

There are many things as drivers that we can practically do to ensure safety on the road from our end. We can use our turning signals (even if we feel it is unimportant, it never hurts and it shows people where we intend to go so they can adjust accordingly), stop completely at stop signs and look all ways before continuing, know and follow the state regulations for driving, instead of speeding up at a yellow light slowing down to ensure the safety of not only ourselves but others as well, keeping a good distance between us and the cars in front of us for the hope if the car in front of us slams on their breaks we have enough time to slow without anybody getting hurt, and not being consumed with distractions ie our phones, other people, etc. Each of these are steps to safe and better driving. Not only should we implement these things into our daily driving routines, but we should also speak up when others are not. It is our civic duty to remind others why safe and better driving is essential.

I want to touch on why this matters. Being a safe driver matters because you matter. It matters because others matter. Every death caused by a car accident removes precious, valuable life from this world. Each death is the loss of a son, a daughter, a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, an aunt, an uncle, a grandma, a grandpa, a best friend, a husband, a wife, and so on. Every life has a story. Every person is important. It is irresponsible and inconsiderate of drivers to be ignorant of safe driving. It is irresponsible and inconsiderate because it puts their own and other precious lives at risk.