Driving: Helpful but Hurtful

It’s the night that you just received your official driver’s license at the age of seventeen. Your parents are so proud of your hard work leading up to this point and allow you to take their car out for a spin by yourself around your hometown of Bentonville. It’s the most liberating night of your life because even though you had no clear destination in mind, you feel as though you’ve already reached it. All that studying and the months practicing behind the wheel with your mom or dad by your side has finally paid off. You did it. This perfectly describes the night that I first got my driver’s license. It felt so amazing to drive by myself with the wind blowing through my hair, to have reached such a huge checkpoint in my life. But with this liberating feeling, there is also a huge danger with being behind the wheel.

Driver education is imperative in today’s world as more and more people are starting to get on the road. As a driver, I recognize that driving takes a huge amount of focus and requires you to know what’s happening at all times. According to a 2021 study, there has been a total of 42,939 auto-caused fatalities per 100,000 people in the U.S. which is very troubling to say the least. That means there is a 12.9% death rate related to vehicles in the country, which is a scary amount. It’s incredibly unfortunate how the majority of these deaths could’ve been prevented with more education in America’s system today but there is no such thing as turning back time. There are families around the country who are grieving from those they lost due to a fatal accident. Imagine just driving home from work not knowing that it would be your last ever one. That whole idea just sends fear through my entire body.

I whole heartedly believe that a huge step that can be taken to lower the number of fatalities caused by vehicles is implementing driver’s education into schools nationwide. I once did an essay my sophomore year of high school on a project on this subject because I was truly shocked on the lack of driver’s education among students who may need it the most. Driver’s Ed exists almost everywhere but the problem is, it’s a pretty hefty price. If you are able to educate the majority of students around the time they are most likely to start getting driver’s license such as freshman or sophomore year, you wouldn’t encounter most of the problems you see today. But now you’re probably wondering about the companies that sell these courses as a main source of income? These can be sponsored by the school or payed for by the local or state government so that both sides won’t have to worry about the lack of revenue. But if that ends up not working out, there can be yearly seminars simply on driver’s safety for a large portion of students to attend but make it a requirement that high school students attend at least once before their graduate. In my state, it’s a requirement to attend a meeting about boys and girls puberty in 5th and 6th grade to prepare them for the inevitable so if the majority of students will have their driver’s license in the near future, why not make that a requirement as well?

I am someone who has been in a car accident. It was a minor one and no one was hurt but it had left large scuffs on both vehicles. I was with my mom and brother that night as we were in our downtown area to get food where I suddenly pulled in to a car parked in front of me while attempting to parallel park. Obviously, it didn’t go so well and we had no choice but to call the police on this matter. I remember that night so well even though I often try hard to forget. I remember the heart-wrenching sound that it makes when the aluminum rams against the aluminum of another car. Not only is it an unpleasant crash sound, it felt like my heart was crashing at the same time. My brother was silent but my mom was yelling at me and when I called my father, he was livid. Luckily, when the policeman arrived, he was calm and spoke in a kind matter and called the mother of the girl who owned the car. She was in the area just out with her friends and though she was taken a back, she was overall just happy that we stayed and didn’t flee the scene. I felt so bad about it and I was so shaken up at the moment. I knew what was happening but at the same time, it was like I wasn’t even there. I wanted so bad to just disappear to teleport in my bed, hide in it and never show my face again. But it wasn’t the end of the world, especially because we decided to stay. Though I know I can’t turn back time and fix it, I’ve realized that all I can do now is reflect on it and just be glad that I decided to stay even when adrenaline was telling me to run. I’ll never forget that feeling and I’m sure that anyone who has been in the same situation, whether they hurt someone or not, feels the same way of something they feel powerless to change but only can reflect on it as life goes forward.

In conclusion, becoming a safer driver in anyone’s life starts with some research and becoming educated. Drunk driving and texting while driving and the fatalities and injuries related to that has scared me enough but it doesn’t tell you enough, I feel. I can encourage others to stay safe on the road and remind them that the rules are in place for a reason, not just for the convenience of law enforcement. As someone who has been in a car accident, this hits home for me as I have a feeling any time I get behind that wheel, it could end up worse. Education is key and I believe that it would drastically decrease the amount of casualties caused by driving. Education is something that will help make the world a better place, one step at a time.