Beyond the Wheel: The Importance of Educating Drivers Everywhere

For every coming-of-age teen in the world, driving is one thing that we just cannot wait to do. In eagerness we sometimes forget the importance of accountability that comes with driving. Where I live (Tennessee), you must be sixteen years old to have a driver’s license. Having the power to end a life with just one mistake seems like a heavy toll to take on at such a young age. But it is the reality. One that is often overlooked. This is apparent by considering the number of deaths from car accidents that result from human error. This is a burning issue that needs to be corrected, not just in Middle Tennessee, but all over the world. By spreading informative awareness to current and future drivers, as well as Samaritans everywhere we can one day come to a consensus and make safe driving the norm for everyone.

The first step needed to take in reducing the number of deaths from car accidents is spreading informative tactics regarding safe driving. Aware drivers are the best drivers. What I mean by this is it is important to be always aware of your surroundings and know how to respond quickly if something were to happen that could cause an accident. Unfortunately, awareness is typically a skill that comes from a wakeup call. For instance, it could be that the driver was involved in a car crash or some close calls where the luck of the draw prevented one.

I think it is imperative we spread driving education. It is necessary to do so because it enforces the importance of obliging traffic laws, defensive driving techniques, dangers of drunk driving, and what most applies to my generation: why it is crucial that you don’t text and drive. If everyone would take these into account, we would encounter much safer and cautious drivers on the road. Awareness and attentiveness would lead to fewer accidents which would ultimately save lives everywhere. It is imperative that steps such as driver education programs are accessible everywhere to insure drivers are equipped with the necessary skills to make a lifesaving choice on the road if need be.

Although everyone on the road would benefit from specialized programs focusing on driving education, a specific group of drivers I feel would gain the most from the experience. The group in question is the teenage population. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2022), “About 227,000 teenagers were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2020”. Furthermore, the research concludes that: “The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among teens ages 16–19 than among any other age group. Teen drivers in this age group have a fatal crash rate almost three times as high as drivers 20 and older per mile driven”, (CDC 2022). Considering these stats, it is apparent that we need more accessible methods for students to learn about driver safety. In most situations, teens only read their state’s permit handbook and then forget all the information after the test. If schools made driver’s education a required class, student drivers would have much more exposure to safe driving tactics and techniques. Requiring drivers’ education in schools is just one of many ways we could reduce the number of driving-related deaths.

To some this method may be unconventional and taboo, but I believe it could bring necessary awareness and sympathy to new drivers’ minds and hearts which would untimely promote safe driving and reduce fatality on the road. Consider the idea that everyone who goes to get their intermediate restricted driver’s license must also consult with a loved one of someone who lost their life in a car accident that was a result of an accident that was brought on by distraction. Whether the distraction be drunk driving or someone too busy on their phone. It may be gruesome and hard to process for a young person, but it gives them firsthand experience at the destruction distracted driving can cause without being personally affiliated with a loss. Introducing stricter traffic laws and extended punishment for speeding charges or driving under the influence are superficial solutions but allowing an impressionable mind to make a connection from a method using pathos, it will have a more favorable outcome. I strongly believe introducing this as a requirement in the process of receiving a driver’s license will encourage drivers to think logically when making decisions on the road.

I believe I am extremely lucky to be able to say the fact that I as a 17-year-old teenager and a driver of over a year have not been involved in a car accident. I acknowledge the fact that it is a privilege to say I have not been in a vehicular accident. Saying that, as a young and naïve driver there have been times, I have not been paying attention, maybe it was looking at my phone at a stoplight, or getting in a lane without checking, I’ve done those things. As a result of my actions, I’ve been honked at seen finger gestures out the window and other aggravated actions from other drivers. However, embarrassing it may have been at the moment I am thankful it happened. Those drivers practiced defensive driving techniques to not only keep them but me safe as well. Now that I am of the age to drive my younger brother and sister around, I always make sure to be as attentive and alert as possible. My worst fear is something happening to them, especially at my hands. I use my attentionless errors as a lesson and because of the scares I make sure to do everything in my power to keep those on the road around me safe.

When I of what I can do to be a better driver, it is difficult to think of things at the superficial level. I take pride in that my friends are responsible in caring for the lives of others as I do. But how many times have I overlooked the times they check their phone at a stoplight, or they are going faster than the speed limit because we’re going to be late. The truth is I am guilty of assuming trust in the people around me and subconsciously ignoring things they should not be doing because it benefits us in that moment. What I can do: hold myself and those I hold close to in the car with me accountable. Speak up when they are wrong and not practicing safe driving, however miniscule the act may be. After all, all it takes is one mistake, one second, to end a life. How can we inform others on what to is best to do while driving while not correcting our mistakes. To save lives, we must hold ourselves and those around us and make clear that they quite understand the power they hold while they are behind the wheel.

While we ourselves may do the right thing, we cannot always count on those around us to do the same. As someone who has made mistakes while driving that could have caused a wreck, I forced someone else to do something that they didn’t have to do to prevent us both from being in a vehicular altercation or potentially something more severe. When we get in accidents, we are always so quick to place blame. Understandably so, the thought of our parents getting upset with us or the price of insurance increasing every month is an inconvenience none of us want on our plate. As soon as we realized what happened many of us, we would spend every second convincing ourselves and others that it wasn’t out fault, rather than be because we had the green light, it was our turn at a four-way stop, or they saw us backing out and proceeded instead of slowing down. What if instead of placing blame, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to both parties if one did something that could prevent it. I am not naïve to the fact that some things are inevitable such as being hit by a drunk driver or being rear ended in stop and go traffic, but there are situations that if one party practiced defensive driving instead when they recognize that the other is acting irresponsibly, we could prevent many more collisions.

I was introduced to an example of this while I was on vacation with my family in Florida. We were on our way to dinner and while we were at a stoplight, we heard an excoriatingly loud “BANG”. We had just witnessed a wreck where three cars were involved. Being good Samaritans, we decided to pull over to make sure everyone was okay and give the local police department a call. Luckily everyone was conscious. But two cars were totaled, and one car took a significant amount of damage and the drivers of the third car weren’t even the ones who collided. They were a result of collateral damage. One driver was an older gentleman who was bleeding from his arm and obviously in shock. All he said while we were on the scene was: “I’m sure I had the greenlight!”, over and over. While I look the other way and I see a dad and his young son who is crying relentlessly. My heart was broken for everyone in that situation. When the police got there, they instantly got to work, and it was a relief that help had arrived. We eventually went on our way to dinner after consulting with the first responders, but it was a wakeup call to me. When something like that occurs, it doesn’t matter who is at fault, the fact of the matter is it still happened. Of course, it matters in the name of who will have points on their license or whose insurance will pay for it but won’t they both wonder what they each could have done to prevent it. My family and I saw the older man had the greenlight, but as soon as it turned green, he did not hesitate to push the gas, if he had stopped for a split second, he would have seen that the other car was trying to beat the red light. As for the driver that ran the red, I am baffled it didn’t occur to him that beating a redlight wasn’t worth risking his life, his son’s life, and those around him on the road. Had one party acted defensively and the other obeyed the law, there would not have been a three-car accident.

Where do I fall into this? I am a young driver that has other friends who are in the same boat. I will hold my friends accountable. Speak up when I see them answer a text, check their speedometer and be prepared to live with being a passenger seat driver. I’d rather they be annoyed with me for nagging them than they be forced to live with the fact we could have done something to save a life and we did the opposite. I drive to two of the highest traffic places a teen is expected to drive every day. On the highway and in a high school parking lot. I must always be prepared to do something I don’t have to, to prevent a collision.

I know that I am only one person. Only one young mind on the road. But if all young drivers are exposed to the things I discussed in the essay, and learn how to practice the methods, I think we could make the road safer for everyone. And untimely, achieve the most important goal, save lives.