Driver Education Initiative Award

Teen driver safety is an important public issue because vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death amongst teens. This happens because teenagers are more easily distracted due to inexperience, impulsive decisions, and being more susceptible to speeding or texting while driving. The DMV teaches teenagers the dangers of the road, but also safe driving habits to prevent such demanding consequences.

A big challenge younger people face is being more distracted. These reasons include peer pressure and phones. Ignoring the phone or answering a call when you’re driving can be the ultimate decision between life or death on the road. The road can be very dangerous and unforgiving. From personal experience, I would say peer pressure is a big reason for these deaths. Peer pressure can make you feel like you need to show off, drive faster, and take serious risks. Inexperience goes along with this, making it a very critical situation. Teenagers can prevent this by driving with adults, silencing their phone, setting clear boundaries, and only driving with a select few of friends that they know they can trust.

It is very important to practice looking in all directions and adjusting your mirrors in an ideal spot. In cases where I have driven, the other person was the one to be a danger to me. There was an instance where I was driving on the high divide (a mountainous road) where there were only two lanes. I was paying attention when suddenly, a white car came out of nowhere, swerved into my lane and almost hit me. I swerved over on the other side as much as I could, but in that moment, I had realized that other people could kill me due to their poor choices and not paying attention.

There was another personal experience that really opened my eyes. This happened when I was younger, and my mom was driving. I lived in Florida at the time so there was always a lot of traffic on the freeway. We were stuck in the traffic when I looked out the window and saw an accident. There were human body parts in the middle of the freeway. The accident was so bad I saw medics put a white sheet over this person. This made me never want to even get into driving. My first initial thought was if it was a family member or one of my teenage friends. I even felt the loss for the family who had to see their beloved person go. I still remember this event even though it was years ago. This reminds me to always slow down and drive safe no matter how late I am.

My dad had also shared a story with me. He used to drive motorcycles with his buddy when they were teenagers. They did it regularly and never had an issue until one day the unexpected happened. They were on a busy road, and they were going too fast. His buddy lost control and swerved. This led to him being decapitated. This was a very traumatic event in his life, but it has kept me from making bad choices regarding the road.

When I passed my first drivers test for the license at the DMV, I felt very unprepared for the real world of driving. I think that they could implement more real-life situations through simulations. This includes pedestrian’s jay walking, certain turns you don’t really see, or even a car speeding past that’s going too fast. This would’ve made me feel a lot better and prepared. Teenagers can even commit to safe driving techniques and making a pledge to put on their seatbelt and silence their phone. Simple things like these could save your life. It is also good to have a great community of support and speaking up when you truly feel unsafe. Change starts when you make personal choice for the better.

Driving responsibility of teens is not just a personal one, but it’s also a shared one. It’s great to bring awareness. A great place to bring this to would be schools and hosting people that have experienced it on site. I think this would make teens think twice before they do something reckless. Parents should also stay involved with their teens driving journey and set a good example for them. Being supportive, having open conversations regarding road safety, and being open-minded even when a teen runs into trouble can make a world of difference. Teens want someone they can trust and rely on, not someone they can talk to just to get screamed at or punished. Every single decision behind that wheel matters because one choice can change everything.