With Great Power…

We’ve come a long way from horseback riding. Ever since the introduction of the Ford Model T – the first affordable production car – so much has changed. Cars got bigger, faster, and sleeker. Their glamour has continued to enamor more and more people around the world of all ages and convince them to get behind the wheel – especially for me, a kid who’s been dreaming about being able to since he was a baby. I grew up a geek for cars – in fact, one of my first words was Volkswagen (which is my favorite manufacturer)! I played video games with cars, watched movies with cars, and read books with cars. Now at age 17, I’m finally able to carry my childhood dreams into adulthood and drive. However, my future wasn’t so bright in 2020, as my cousin had passed away when her friend got in a car accident with her in the passenger seat. This was a huge wake-up call for me as I realized just how grim the aspect of driving could be. I began questioning my own love for the road as my parents became more anxious about me beginning to drive. Although I wasn’t able to get on the road at the same time as my friends, I was able to gain a very broad perspective of road safety and its importance from being driven around by so many of my friends.

Growing up, my father, stepmother, and grandparents have all been very great drivers, which I’m very grateful for – and I feel that it has certainly rubbed off on me. I pay attention to the road at all times, and reflect on any potential mistakes I make. However, senior year has put me in the front and backseat of many students’ cars, and let me tell you – some of those rides weren’t pleasant at all. In particular, I’ve been in the cars of people almost hitting pedestrians and sometimes running lights or signs. Hitting the sides of the car and churning around in my chair from their careless steering disappoints me to no end, but it also lets me understand how a passenger could feel in a car I’m driving in. It lets me see just how important it is to drive conservatively, especially when in the car with others. However, it still confuses me as to just how careless new drivers can be behind the wheel. I tend to see some people play off their bad driving habits as just a joke, or even something that they aren’t ashamed of at all. This nonchalant attitude becomes the epitome of bad driving, and I feel that this roots from square one: Driver’s Education.

Taking the class in Sophomore year wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be – we weren’t required to read much of the book, and the quizzes and tests were extremely short, with students blatantly cheating as well. The problem with this is mostly in the schools, as some schools most likely take the class more seriously than others. The easiness of the class is what I feel could make teens think that driving is just as easy – which just isn’t true. It requires your full attention and care when you’re hauling around machines that could weigh up to 6,000 pounds. And speaking of that weight – our cars are continuing to get larger. Studies estimate that replacing large vehicles with standard size ones could have saved more than 8,000 lives since 2000. When careless teens are put behind these large cars (I know teens who drive three-row SUVs, minivans, and MANY who drive Jeep Wranglers), that margin for error gets even larger. More teens need to understand the responsibility that comes with driving these large vehicles since they’re only getting more powerful. This is why it’s vital for teens to have their first impression of driving be a very serious one. I think that a more strenuous curriculum is needed in order to create these better impressions so we can populate the next generation of drivers with responsible ones. If more teens can understand the important of driving education and safety, more lives of fellow drivers and pedestrians can be saved.

The main steps to lower these deaths is to encourage more schools to stress the curriculum more. If the awareness of driver safety can be broadened, we can have less of a worry for worse drivers and prevent more accidents from happening. Next, more should be taught about the physical part of driving, as many teens get carried away when behind the wheel. Finally, I feel that the steps we can take ourselves to become better drivers is to reflect on how we drive. Should I have taken that turn? Did I enter that corner too fast? I tend my ask myself this whenever I drive, and I always see improvement whenever I get on the road again. From acknowledging and trying to fix our problems, we can create safer roads here in the US, for both pedestrians and drivers alike.