Has the Excitement of Driving Diminished?

Once upon a time, I was excited about the possibility of driving. I saw my sister driving and she looked as if she was having fun and I wanted to do it. At the time, I lived in Maryland and it seemed as if it would take forever to get to the license phase. They had a requirement for driver’s training just to be able to apply for a permit. I would then have to log 60 driving hours within 60 days in order to apply for a provisional driver’s license. After having a provisional license for 1 year, I would then be able to apply for a regular driver’s license. Well, before I could begin the process, I moved to North Carolina due to my mom being in the military. The process for North Carolina was similar. I had to take a 30 Driver’s Education Course before I could apply for my permit. I also had to complete 6 hour of supervised driving all the while accumulating 60 total hours of driving time before I could get my license. The pandemic somewhat lessened the restrictions as I did not have to take a driver’s exam to get my license.

I believe driver’s education is very important to reducing the number of deaths in driving. I believe the proper introduction to driver’s safety is very important to beginner drivers. However, I believe many drivers are introduced to the road while they are riding in the car with their family and friends. That can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing. For example, if a parent has a problem speeding or not using turn signals, the child can notice those habits. I believe the education that children receive is crucial to how they drive, which in turn affects the amount of accidents. I see so many people my age zipping past me when I drive and bouncing from lane to lane, it makes me wonder where they got their license and how they were able to pass their driver’s test.

I believe the additional steps that can be taken will be in the classroom. Driver’s education classes need to be put back into the school curriculum and given as much precedence as football or basketball or any other sport. While I know some would laugh and say football and basketball are bringing in money to the school, I would raise the question, if a very good athlete cannot follow the rules of the road, what good is that player to a team if he is a quadriplegic or paralyzed? I have heard my grandmother talking about how she has lost students to car accidents and speed is a factor or even alcohol. The rules of the road are there to keep all drivers and pedestrians safe. I do believe once the community takes a better interest in reducing accidents and works toward driver safety, the number of people killed in accidents will reduce.

I have never personally been in an accident, but we travelled a lot on the road and I have seen many bad accidents. I am not sure what the cause for those accidents were, but they never look good. I believe all accidents on the road are preventable unless someone has mechanical failure or a tire malfunction. The top five things that cause accidents are distracted driving, speeding, intoxication, recklessness and bad weather. Only one of these are out of the control of the driver and that is bad weather. Speed should never cause accidents. Distracted driving should never cause accidents. People definitely should not be driving while intoxicated. Driving reckless seems to be the norm in my opinion. Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere and patience while driving has gone out the window. I make it a point to try not to touch my phone when I am driving. My mom and dad touch their phone a lot when they are driving. My mom speeds when she drives. I see these things and while we have never been in an accident, there have been some times where we swerved to avoid people and those things.

I believe the steps I can take are to not speed or drive distracted and to remind my family when they speed or try to pick up their phone. I don’t typically ride with people other than my family thus far in my life; however, I will make it a point to once I see someone has bad driving habits to not ride with them if I can help it. I believe that keeping myself out of danger is just as important as how I drive. The things I can do are to make sure I practice safe driving habits, drive defensively, and adhere to the rules I have been taught to keep myself and my passengers safe. Given all the obstacles I had to overcome, all the things I have seen while being a passenger as well as a driver, I would say that my excitement for driving has not diminished. However, I approach driving more cautiously and am a bit more hesitant than I would normally be when getting behind the wheel.