Fast Furious and Doordash

Deep breath, adrenaline running through my veins, I tightly grip both hands onto the steering wheel. I glance to my right, and it’s just one car. My eyes narrow. It’s just me, my car, and an open road, nothing more, nothing less. Rain bounces of my windshield as my wipers remove the moisture forming on my front glass. My hands start to sweat while fast and furious seven soundtrack plays on my stereo. I look at the dim crosswalk through the Seattle rain, the time clicks down, 5,4,3,2,1… The traffic light turns green. My engine snarls, and so does his. I don’t focus on the other driver, and I keep my eyes on the road. My car accelerates, and so does my opponent. I feel energized and alive. I snicker as the driver to my right floors the pedal to his BMW M3… “Does he think this is even a competition?” I chuckle as I gently tap my gas peddle and follow the speed limit in my aunt’s 2009 Toyota Prius. In fact, due to the driving conditions, I am going around five miles under the speed limit. My hands began sweating because I had the heater on in my car. My adrenaline came from the DoorDash order I was late to drop off because of the road conditions.

I had been Doordashing for around three months, and in my experience delivering food to customers, I have seen many different drivers on the road with all different types of driving styles. Cars weaving lanes without blinkers, speeding then breaking last minute, cutting off semi-trucks, and slowing down are all heinous things I have seen on the road. I have learned to tightly follow safe driving habits from analyzing others’ driving styles for multiple reasons. Reasons may include wanting to be safe while driving to make it past my 20’s and not becoming “that guy” on the road who makes other drivers change lanes, so they don’t get involved in an accident. Driving education is vital when considering the effects a driver’s behavior has while on the road. One driver can make or break the flow of the streets by either making it a safe environment or a dangerous one. And as I watched the BMW exhilarate down the road, I thought back on my first driving experience and the many important things I learned while in Drivers education.

I enrolled in my school systems Drivers Ed class and received my driver’s permit at 15. Enrolling in driver’s education gave me insight into the wonders and dangers of the road. It truly gave me an understanding of the safe driving tactics I still use today at my delivery job. Of course, we learned basic things such as wearing a seatbelt, putting hands on 10 and 2, and always double-check your mirrors. And though these are all critical aspects to safe driving, which I follow, the most important things I learned in driver’s education were understanding the roads and identifying and avoiding situations where possible accidents could happen.

I believe strongly in the importance of driver education and making sure drivers understand the risk of entering the road. A familiarized driver with proper education can make a significant difference when it comes to the safety of the road. An educated driver will understand how to drive safely and identify possible problems depending on the driving conditions. According to a private driving institution in Georgia states that drivers associated with Driver Education reduce car accident ratings by 4.3% and convictions by nearly 40%. Specifically, in teens drivers, this number is only raised. According to the University of Nebraska’s newsroom, young drivers who never had driver education are 24% more likely to get involved in a fatal or injury accident and 16% more likely to have an accident than younger drivers with proper education. Also, young drivers without a completed driver’s education are 75% more likely to receive a traffic ticket. According to the sources, an understanding of appropriate driving etiquette through driver education makes the roads safer and can save money and the lives of drivers.

Many of the reasons young drivers without proper education have a higher chance of having an accident is because cell phones are an everyday item, especially with the millennial generation. Texting while driving is a prominent issue and only raises as the years go on. According to the NHTSA, the use of cell phones while driving cost the lives of 3142 people in 2019. Distracted driving is a terrible habit and will only divert ones attention away from the road making

As I witnessed my aunt’s Prius being put in the dust by this random car, instead of taking it as a challenge (not that the BMW stood a chance) and race this BMW, I lightly accelerated my car and went the speed limit to my DoorDash destination.

Sources:

https://newsroom.unl.edu/releases/2015/08/13/Study:+Driver%27s+ed+significantly+reduces+teen+crashes,+tickets