Shortcuts to Nowhere

Alexandra
Lee

Providence,
RI

Brown
University

Shortcuts
to Nowhere

Teenagers
are always in a rush. We are always looking ahead to the next stage
of our lives, looking to grow up faster. I was no exception.
Turning sixteen and being able to drive is a milestone that many kids
look forward to, as it represents freedom and a fraction of adulthood
as we understood it.

I
started driving much later than my peers, not getting my license
until my senior year of high school. Even after I got my license, my
parents were reluctant to allow me to drive very much. I felt so
behind my peers — while everyone was driving to school, I was still
taking the bus. I lived far away from most of my friends, so keeping
up with them was much harder as I didn’t want to burden my parents
with long car rides but couldn’t carpool with anyone. Looking back
on it, it stemmed from this wanting to rush time, grow up faster, and
do the same things as my friends — a worry that many teenagers
share. The desire to show parents that they are ready makes many
kids feel falsely overconfident in their driving skills. The culture
of carelessness in modern teens does not help matters. Nowadays, it
is seen somehow as “cool” to act nonchalant about driving — in
fact, bad driving will almost become a joke amongst friends.
Combined, it leads to dangerous driving habits like lax views of
speed limits and frequent phone usage, whether it be to text, queue
up a new song, or search on google maps.

Last
March, my parents finally agreed to let me start driving to work.
Absent minded and overconfident in skills, I rear ended an elderly
couple on my way to work only two minutes from my house, on a road I
was very familiar with. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but my mom’s
car was badly damaged. While my story is not unique, it is one that
almost everyone will encounter at some point in their driving
careers. Minor accidents happen to everyone, but they can be easily
avoided in most cases. More importantly, minor accidents are only
minor accidents until they’re not.

Most
kids, at least in Rhode Island, start by taking some sort of Driver’s
Ed class. Despite going to this class for several hours a day for a
straight week, I found myself very ill prepared when actually getting
behind the wheel. I do credit some of that to the curriculum, as
there is a heavy influence on laws and alcohol — while that is
undoubtedly critical, I had very little knowledge of how to actually
operate a vehicle upon “graduation”. The nonexistent hands on
learning made it difficult for anything to truly stick, given that I
had no prior experience of driving a car to go off of. Furthermore,
it is not really realistic to expect that students will absorb the
majority of the information crammed into those classes — the
material is dry and the videos and study tools are outdated. While
my instructor was very passionate and well meaning, as I’m sure
many instructors are, but teaching an active, very hands on skill
with a typical classroom format is not going to be the most
effectual.

So
most of the learning is done actually behind the wheel. I learned
very quickly from my accident that I needed to never let down my
guard when driving. While learning from experiences like these is
very effective, there are ways to learn in a less costly (in many
ways) fashion. My dad’s words, “You will know when you are ready
when your car acts as an extension of your body” stick with me
every time I get behind the wheel. You are in full control of your
vehicle and your driving when you know exactly where every part of
the car is and where it will go. This only happens through
controlled
practice.
I believe that drivers ed can be changed to be tailored to
this mantra. Mixing up lecture based classes with simulations or
real practice can solidify the tips being shared in classes. For the
mandatory practice required for teenagers to do with their permit (in
RI, fifty hours of practice must be recorded), it should be done in a
more controlled manner. Allocate a specific number of hours to local
driving, highway driving, night driving, rain/snow driving, or
combinations of those environments. Create designated locations
where real time driving can be practiced with minimal risk, perhaps
courses that are designed like real traffic but putting other drivers
at risk. Above all, I believe that teenagers and families should
change their mindsets: taking uncalculated shortcuts when learning to
drive is similar to taking shortcuts when actually on the road — it
is easy to get lost and be somewhere you regret.