Friends before safety

Friends
before Safety

Alexandra
Hays

Driving
represented freedom from the restrictions and eyes of my parents.
When the day came and I was able to get behind the wheel my heart was
beating so fast I thought the person next to me could hear it as I
walked out of the DMV. I was ready to get into the driver’s seat,
no fear only a burning desire for freedom. In my mind all I had to do
was get though the next 6 months and I was free. I turned the radio
on, rolled the window down and ready to put it into drive, this was
my moment to be “cool”. My mother did not agree with my methods,
to drive with her it was no radio, phone and windows up. As a 16 year
old girl this was the absolute definition of torture.

Driving
was not as easy as I expected, month after month I continued to drive
and learn. In truth I only retained half of what my mother said. I
just put in the hours required to get my license. Let’s fast
forward to me being a new licensed driver. I broke every rule my mom
put in place, I turned the music up, hand my phone in my lap and my
priority was impressing my friends which I put before safety. In my
mind I didn’t think anything would happen until it did. I was
driving friends to practice early one morning after a storm. Cars
were floating upside down in the creek next to the road where I was
driving, devastation everywhere. I had the music up and carrying on
conversations about our surroundings, when the phone rang which I
answered. I looked down for 2 seconds to grab the phone and smashed
into the car in front of me injuring that person as well as my
friends. That moment changed me and the driver I am today. I learned
that by not taking my drivers ed seriously I put myself and
others at risk. I did not drive for some time after that, fear had
set in. My parents went back to the beginning with my driver’s
education to help me and this time they had my full attention. In
time I regained my confidence as a drive. I am proud to boast on
what a safe driver I have become. Driving is no longer Friends over
Safety for me.

New
teenage drivers want to impress their friends with loud music,
driving fast and texting while driving. As teenagers we don’t
think those things are important and that is why accidents happen.
Teenagers have a bad habit of not putting any weight into what adults
are saying when it comes to drivers ed because most of us
think we already know everything.

Drivers
Education is the most important part of this whole process. I think
that if you want to reduce the number of accidents and deaths in the
United States you need to reach us on our level. That is Social Media
like Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, SnapChat or Facetime. Today we
teenagers are voyeurs, we watch people’s lives through videos they
post on Social Media. What if there was a Social Media site where
people could upload their story and photo of their accident or near
accident. New drivers would have the ability to watch all these other
teenagers or young adults talking about Real Life Experiences!
Teenagers listen to other teenagers.

My
story is no different than many new drivers. I would like to
recommend in closing having teenagers who have gone through accidents
like I have be a resource for new drivers. Incorporate us and our
stories into Drivers ed.