Inexperience and Overconfidence

According to TN government, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Tennessee teens. Approximately 68 teens, ages 15-19, die every year from these accidents. From the Fatality Facts 2023 around 3,048 teenagers ages 13-19 died in motor vehicle crashes nationwide in 2023.

For teenagers, our phones, overconfidence, and inexperience are the biggest reasons for fatalities. Teens today are obsessed with their screens. The internet is addictive and our friends can be distracting. Texting is quick and simple to us where it has become muscle memory. What teens don’t realize is that the quick second they look down at their phone and away from the road, they now have no idea what is going on around them and anything can happen. From the texting and driving accident statistics 2024, 1.6 million motor vehicle crashes are due to phone usage while driving every year. This isn’t always teens however, I remember a bunch of times when I saw people swerving on the road because they had their phones in their hands. My father has always taught me to be aware of my surroundings and to think a few steps ahead. He also told me that even the best of drivers get into car crashes, most of them are not even your fault.

My cousin was one whose overconfidence has gotten the best of him. A couple of months after he got his licence, he offered to take his sister and me to lunch. After lunch we ran some errands around town but after a few stops I noticed that he and his sister were not wearing seat belts. I asked them why they were not wearing them, it’s the law and all, but what he told me shocked me and changed my view of him forever. He said “ I’m a good driver and I won’t get into a crash so there’s no need to worry.” To me, that spoke volumes of his unknowingness and overconfidence on the road. First of all, he was a newer driver and second, you can never know what other people are doing or what mistakes they will make while near you. I’m still not sure if he wears his seatbelt on a daily basis but I told my Mom about what had happened and what he had said. He ended up getting a long lecture from his parents on why seatbelts are important. Since then my cousin has been in three accidents and has only been driving for a little more than two years. One ending his car in a ditch on prom night with his date in the car with him. Safety is also not always about yourself, but also about other people with you or around you.

Another huge issue for teen drivers is not knowing how to drive in weather conditions or odd situations. For example, my family used to live in the Northern United States where it snowed a lot. Snow and rain with below freezing or freezing temperatures can lead to black ice on the roads. According to reports, there are around 130,000 crashes caused by black ice every year. Now imagine a 16 year old sliding on black ice who has no clue what to do because they were never taught how to handle this situation. Many things could happen in this situation but only the right things could happen if every teenager is taught to both recognize the surroundings and how to handle situations in a drivers education class.

The state of Tennessee where I reside does not require kids to take driver’s education in order to get your licence. The class is offered at my school but unfortunately with the timing of my birthdate I was never able to take it. Instead my parents signed me up for a driving course. Even though this was a one day class, it helped prepare me for a lot of different situations. This includes how to correct when spinning out, using the ABS braking system, what it feels like and how to calmly correct driving off the road, how to calmly and quickly swerve out of the way without losing control of the car, and how to drive with passengers attempting to distract me. They even had me drive with drunk goggles on to show everyone why driving drunk is a terrible and potentially deadly idea. Even though I have not used all of these skills on the road, I learneen the situation arises I will know what to do. However, I know that a one day class can not teach me everything there is to know about driving. They did not teach me how to identify hydroplaning or driving on black ice. In fact, the only reason I know what to do is because my parents made sure I was aware of situations while learning how to drive. They made sure I knew how to handle situations like extreme weather and the conditions and dangers that it creates. Not everyone has parents as dedicated to safety as mine, so this is why driver’s education is so important. When we teach teens what to do in as many situations as possible, even the outlandish ones, and to put the phones down and put their seatbelts on, the roads will be safer for them and for everyone else.