How to Be a Cooler Driver

Zoya Fazal

National Driving and Traffic School

“In The Driver’s Seat”

August 1 2020

How to Be a Cooler Driver

Someone who is considered a “cool” driver today is often preoccupied by their phone while driving and unfazed by the risks they are taking. Young teenage drivers–including me–often feel pressured to embody this persona, and these risky habits can be carried over to our adult years. For example, some dangerous circumstances I often participate in are picking up my phone while driving with my friends to check the navigation or turning up the volume of the music and screaming along to the song that’s playing, sometimes not even looking at the road. But as akin to a “cool” driver I try to be, “cool” drivers don’t distribute their focus to the right places. It is this lack of focus that gets drivers into fatal accidents. After reflecting, I realize the dangers of my habits and feel motivated to change the narrative of what it means to be a “cool” driver: someone who is focused, responsible, but also fun.

There are many ways we can become cooler drivers ourselves. The first thing that may come to mind is to limit phone use while driving. While phones are the biggest part of why many drivers–especially young drivers–get into fatal accidents, there is another significant culprit as well: the lack of a drivers ed. Under “Joshua’s Law,” only drivers under 17 are required to receive drivers ed by an approved school.¹ However, a University of Nebraska study examining the importance of a drivers ed concludes that “[those] who took drivers ed had significantly fewer accidents and traffic tickets than [those who] logged driving hours without formal driving instruction”.² Drivers ed can train drivers to distribute their focus properly while driving, therefore preventing fatal situations and allowing them to become cooler drivers.

A couple years ago, due to his lack of focus, my father got into a car accident on the highway that nearly took away his life. This incident opened my eyes to perilous risks that drivers take when they’re distracted. After reflecting over my father’s history, I vow to implement the following steps to be a cooler driver: I will only check the navigation and make important calls when I am at a stoplight. I will wait until I’m parked to sing along with my friends. And in helping my friends and family become cooler drivers, I will check the navigation, change the music, or make an important call for them so they can focus on the road. It is so important to look past convincing ourselves to “quickly” look at our phones or impress our friends and instead, realize that our lives are more valuable than what we are risking it for. Understanding and implementing this is what truly makes a cool driver.

I really appreciate the National Driving and Traffic School for offering this opportunity for financial support and encouraging me to examine the effects of drivers ed, reflect over my driving history, and implement safer driving choices. Thank you for reading my essay and considering my application.

Works Cited

1. Georgia Department of Driver Services. “Joshua’s Law Requirements.” Georgia Department of Driver Services, dds.georgia.gov/joshuas-law-requirements.

2. University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Web Developer Network. “Study: Drivers Ed Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets.” Study: Drivers Ed Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets | News Releases | University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 13 Aug. 2015, newsroom.unl.edu/releases/2015/08/13/Study:+Driver%27s+ed+significantly+reduces+teen+crashes,+tickets.