Reckless Driving Wrecks Lives

Today’s busy and distracted society makes driving a treacherous and life-threatening endeavor, regardless of how safe you drive or how cautious you may be. My parents, brother, and I have been in a few accidents. What do these accidents have in common? None of us were the at-fault driver.

In less than ten years, we were involved in three significant accidents. Two of those resulted in our family vehicle being totaled. The other caused substantial, but repairable damage to one care, but also whiplash for me. I was in the vehicle as a passenger for two of the three and it was terrifying. Minor accidents can be loud and jarring, but accidents in which we were involved were even more so.

My parents routinely follow traffic safety protocols and employ defensive driving tactics. Here in Los Angeles County, it is definitely necessary. I am a permitted driver and I am taking my time to get my license. I took the driving classes my school provided and my parents paid for extra instruction. I may be too cautious, but it feels necessary. The problem is, many other drivers are not safe and often take shortcuts, break the law, and are careless. Why?

Is lack of education the issue? Busy lives? Trying to look “cool” to others? Impatience? Lack of empathy? Not being able to think ahead? Anxiety? I believe all of these things contribute. The blatant displays and lack of respect from other drivers is astounding! It is not uncommon to have experienced three to four near misses with other drivers in a fifteen minute trip to school. Unfortunately, this is not an exaggeration.

In a morning drive, we have had drivers speeding around us by driving into oncoming traffic, we have had to react to being abruptly cut off, swerving into our lane without having checked and almost taking us out, running red lights, and much more. Because of all of this, I am not in a hurry to get my license. I am an overly cautious driver, but what is up with other people? Despite all of the instances we personally witness, we have never witnessed an officer pulling these people over. Sure, we have noticed the occasional officer over to the side after having pulled someone over and some monitoring speeds, but never have I seen someone who put our lives in danger on the road get policed for it.

Currently, many schools offer driver’s education. You can also take lessons from family and paid instructors. The Department of Motor Vehicles in each state provides information on driving rules in order to take the written exam and be prepared. The people who give the behind-the-wheel exams are known to be exacting in their standards (I failed a test for driving under the speed limit – that was my only error!). When people break traffic laws and are caught, they are usually ticketed if the infraction was not severe, or they are jailed.

Laws are not keeping everyone from breaking them. Enforcement of those laws do not keep many people from becoming repeat offenders. Rules and laws are great, and many people DO follow them, however, it is not a barrier for others. They are meant to keep us all safe, but many do not adhere to them.

Overall, I believe empathy is severely lacking in reckless drivers. When you are running late, are you thinking about the other people on the road with you? When you are showing off, are you being empathetic to other drivers? We can all be self-serving and selfish, but it should never come at the expense of another person’s safety or life. An additional consideration is respect for what you are doing. When you are operating a motor vehicle, you are operating heavy equipment. It should be treated as it is – something that can be highly dangerous to others if not operated correctly and safely. I do not think everyone understands the magnitude of what they are doing when they are driving.

I believe that there needs to be a more holistic approach to driver education. It should not be a list of rules and regulations with repetitive sample testing so that you can pass an exam. Knowing and understanding the rules is important, but being able to apply the information and understand consequences might help drivers understand the need and become safer drivers. Even if a person persists in being self-centered, they need to understand that they can also be injured or killed by their careless driving.

Employing an education method that teaches rules, consequences, and more personal scenarios might be more effective. For example, if you show some cases of what happened to drivers who did not follow the laws and others as well. Seemingly small infractions can cause deadly results. In my own experience, we were on our way home from a school event and had been stopped at a red light for a good amount of time when a distracted driver slammed into us. I was in middle school and suffered contusions and whiplash. It was scary, painful, caused a financial hardship, and hindered our ability to go about our normal activities.

We are blessed. Even though our accidents did not cause major injury or death, they affected our day-to-day life and our finances (even with insurance and not being at fault). Many do not escape with their lives or end up with life-changing injuries. Reckless driving can be detrimental to many. Teaching empathy along with rules and regulation may create more thoughtful and careful drivers. Make it personal, because it is personal.