Keep Calm, Practice Safe Driving

As I started my journey to becoming a new driver during my sophomore year, I was faced with the question of how I would go about learning all there was to know about joining the masses on the roads of Las Vegas. Would I take an online course through my school, study the drivers’ handbook cover to cover on my own, take practice tests, get in person training with an instructor, or drive with my parents around empty parking lots? The answer for me was all of the above. Some could make the argument that this was overkill, or just a product of my parents’ paranoia about releasing their only daughter to the dangers of the road, but I am very grateful for the amount of confidence I gained by feeling prepared every step of the way.

Of the many paths I walked to become more educated on the experience of driving, some were more effective than others in getting the message of safe driving practice across. One part of the curriculum of the Drivers’ Ed course I took was to watch and respond to various videos about the dangers of distracted driving and stories about some awful situations that could theoretically result from it. And in all honesty, while these videos had a somewhat emotional impact at the time, they really just felt like homework. It was difficult to see them as more than just pessimistic, worst-case-scenario, horror stories. A significant change for me came in the form of the “Every 15 Minutes” assembly. We were required as a school to come together in the gym one afternoon, where we were given a presentation about similar dangerous driving stories. Only something was different about this educational tool. This felt real. There were real parents sharing stories of their late children, real siblings that lost some of their closest bonds, real students honoring the lives of their friends. It was the destruction of the hypothetical that made all the difference to me. The idea of losing someone to distracted driving wasn’t hypothetical to these people; it was real. That presentation was a miserable, emotional, and alarming experience, but I think it is something everyone should witness. The rawness in that room was enough to stick with anyone and everyone that was a part of it. I retell that story to show the impact it had on me. I was a young driver who did all the right things in terms of my drivers’ education, I was able to pass my tests with flying colors. But what continues to keep me safe, and what I attribute to some of my skills in defensive driving is what I learned in that one afternoon.

I’ll touch on that term quickly: “defensive driving”. What does that mean? Defensive driving is a technique I was taught at first by my driving instructor Jayne. She taught me the basics of defensive driving, and shared stories and situations with me in which her attention to other drivers that were in the wrong instead of her kept her and others around her safe. In terms of what I learned from her, I could tell you that cliche, “it goes through my mind every single time I get behind the wheel.” The truth is, maybe it should have, but not everyone thinks that way. When I was reminded of this technique again was in a situation that was out of my control. When I was rear-ended. When he was following too close behind and didn’t see me stop in time because he was preoccupied with his phone. The accident was minor, and no one was hurt. But that feeling, the lack of control I experienced, didn’t fade for a good long while. The fact of the matter is that I got lucky, and he got lucky. There are a lot of people out there who aren’t as fortunate. By not only learning how to drive defensively, but actively implementing these practices and principles into our driving techniques, we are better equipped to keep ourselves safe and reduce the potential for damage to others.

One of the biggest plagues on our generation of drivers nowadays is distracted driving, as shown in my personal experience above. The use of phones and social media while driving has become such a common aspect of society that many of us do not even think about the danger it poses. As a teenager, it is easy to become comfortable and feel invincible. Nearly every adult has stories from their adolescent years in which they express that they felt “indestructible” and acted without worrying about any consequences. In our parents’ day, this could have been anything from breaking into an active construction site, going shooting in the woods after several drinks, or setting fire to Spanish moss on the trees in the bayou because it burned in a cool way. These are all stories straight from the archives of my mom and dad. It is easy to hear those stories and recognize how reckless they are and how much could have gone wrong. Unfortunately, while these dangers still exist in our day and age, there are now new dangers that stay a little more hidden until it is too late. Social media and texting are a part of nearly everyone’s daily lives, and people rarely think too much about sending a message or liking a post. Naturally, this means we may not quite think of doing these things in our car as a big deal. This is where the sneakiness of dangerous driving habits comes in because the split second that it takes to engage in social media or a text message can change your life, or the life of someone else.

Now, I’m not here to lecture anyone or claim to be the authority on the decisions people make behind the wheel. All I can do is encourage people to keep safe driving habits a priority. Driver’s education is well worth it, and can teach you most everything there is to know. From the theoretical concept of driving, to the practice, to the technique. And, as in my experience with the “Every 15 Minutes” program, it can teach you how to drive with the perspective that your decisions behind the wheel affect many more than just yourself. By continuing to display driver’s education in a positive light, we encourage more young drivers to partake in programs that will save countless lives down the road. Pun intended.