Navigating the Road to Freedom and the Importance of Driver Education

I remember how it felt to get my first car. The culmination of 40-hour weeks in the simmering sun and falling snow of the Chick-fil-A drive-thru, saying my pleasure while on the verge of heat stroke, and tapping an iPad when my fingers were frozen to the bone. I recall the 6 am mornings, paying for my own driving lessons with a woman who was rude and confusing but a necessary steppingstone none the less. It all seemed worth it when I paid $3500 for that black 2012 Toyota Camry. The dents and paint chipping seemed almost avant-garde, and the failing transmission and breaks were mere cute quirks.

Most instructors will tell you to take things slow once you’ve started driving on your own. Make sure you have a parent or adult in the vehicle to guide you to ensure you are continuing to drive properly, but I was eager and this car was to get away from my parents and chase my own freedom wasn’t it? So I did just that, late-night drives to and from Atlanta, circling empty lots to practice on my own, and occasionally passing a sign or two that I didn’t understand. I was more than excited to drive to work for the first time and show everyone the result of my hard work.

This stoplight was unusually long, the street was packed four ways and no one was moving, It’s unusual. The car in front of me moves forward despite the light’s screams to halt, it must be broken I thought. I look both ways and make sure no one is coming, assuming this is the proper procedure for a broken light, I move as quickly as the car will allow me. I’m almost on the other side! I look to my right and…oh…this isn’t right, aren’t the lights red? Why aren’t they stopping? Don’t they see me? They’re getting closer and I can’t move quickly enough, all I can do is accept. As I spin violently I wonder what my mom will say and if will I survive, she’s worried and self-explanatory. I’m shaken up and I hear talks of lawyers and tickets and I try to defend myself by saying “I thought the light was broken” Each time they ask “Well was it blinking?” no…it wasn’t and I didnt know it had to be.

The other driver and I came out unscathed, but I had to come to terms with the fact that my ignorance almost cost the life of another person and my own. At that moment I realized the true value of being a knowledgeable driver. The knowledge exams we take aren’t some meaningless formality, they are a necessary assessment of one prepared for interacting on the road. A mass of information that isn’t a simple collection of words but a safety guide, a matter of life or death. I soon enrolled in a defensive driving course to inform myself of what I missed, an experience that benefits me to this day.

It is necessary to educate drivers, new and old to avoid accidents like mine or even more severe ones. Driver education provides us with the tools we need to navigate our roads, teaching us to think preemptively. It lets us learn before we even touch a wheel, guiding us on how to break, steer, accelerate, and more importantly how to respond to our world. What these seemingly infinite lights and signs mean and why they are in place.

Many states, like my home of Georgia, have implemented laws to make the roads safer for everyone like the Hands-free law used to combat distracted driving. This law makes it illegal to hold a phone while driving and has drastically decreased distracted driving-related deaths, but more needs to be done. Currently, in Georgia, you need a 15 out of 20 to pass the Drivers Ed knowledge exam. I believe this should be changed to a required 20 out of 20. While it may seem extreme, driving is also extreme, people lives are on the line, and passing a simple exam meant to test you on life-saving knowledge should not be a hassle compared to the great risks of driving.

As I make sure to consciously remain vigilant and aware of my surroundings, I continue to express the importance of safety to all my peers. Even in my 20s, it is not uncommon to see a friend riding without a seatbelt, checking a tweet, or even causally pass a stop sign. If we value the lives of ourselves and others we must connect and share the importance of driver safety.