Creating a beautiful world through driving

As a human living in a world full of trials, darkness, and evil, the desire to be happy grows, and the desire to live a beautiful life is the goal of a lot of Americans. However, achieving a beautiful life can be difficult, especially when it feels like everything that can be good is worse. To illustrate, we have technology that can give us easy directions and easy access to calculators or the internet, but it is also addictive and gives easy access to inappropriate content.   Driving can be easily placed in this category. It is an incredible invention allowing a family to visit grandpa for Sunday dinner, letting a significant other visit their partner after being miles apart for far too long, or a run to the store for some ice cream to improve your child’s day. They can also be devastating for thousands a year. And it’s not just simple human accidents; it’s human choices of texting and driving, drinking under the influence, driving drowsy, and many other conscious choices. Through this essay, I would like to discuss the ways that we can make driving part of our beautiful life.

The Importance of Driver Education:

The anxious butterflies in your stomach swirl as you click the last multiple-choice on your driving test. The last step before you can receive your driver’s license. Relief pours into every cell of your body as a childhood dream, and life milestone just became reality. The DMV worker hands you the slip of paper, which pictures an awkward 16-year-old eager for a little bit of freedom. As you place your hands on the wheel, you try to remember the information from the test, from the class, and from the driving test as you drive. This is a story from my life, a moment I will always remember. A girl scared to death to drive learned how and how to do so safely. Almost a decade later, it’s hard to recall what was taught in the class, but I know that I would not have grown into a confident driver without the start of education and support to learn how. When I was about 13 years old, my brother was driving me to a birthday party when he turned too soon, and a big truck t-boned us. For years, I lived in fear of the car, lying in the back seat so I couldn’t see out the windows to eventually being able to sit up, to moving back into the front seat, and eventually learning how to drive myself. I don’t think I would have ever gotten to the point where I could drive if it weren’t for the help from my driving teachers, the education I was given, and passing the tests with white knuckles. Driving education provides a driver with the ability to navigate complex traffic scenarios, anticipate potential hazards, and make informed decisions on the road. Once, I lived with a girl, and she would always get annoyed at me for not having common sense. It bothered me because I never considered myself so oblivious, and it got me thinking. Something common sense only becomes so with education. I once didn’t always know what 2+2 is, and someone raised without stop lights wouldn’t just know to wait for a green light before walking across the street. We need to be educated about our driving to know what common sense is and be aware as we drive.

Steps we could take to reduce the number of deaths:

Reflecting on my personal journey and how far I have come, I’ve realized that I don’t really remember the things I was taught in the class. Either it has become common sense or faded from my memory through time. I had a conversation with some of my coworkers debating the rules of the road one day. “Did you know you can change lanes in the middle of an intersection?” “No, you cannot!” “Yes, in Utah, you can!” And the debate lasted much longer. I feel like one precaution we could put in place is to have some classes or occasional quizzes that could keep people refreshed with the driving education they do have. Another idea could be to have the original driving education we received be initially a little more rigorous. That way, we could filter out those unwilling to put forth the effort to learn how to drive safely, guaranteeing more effort and learning for those who are. Providing such education would provide better in-depth learning that allows the driver to feel more confident. And if we had drivers complete reviews occasionally, it wouldn’t feel as intimidating or stressful because the knowledge would be engrained. I do believe that if the reality of what driving a car can do to someone’s life and how these changes could help foster a beautiful life are shared, people would want to make the changes. It would increase the simple moments of driving and increase memories like family car trips, traveling to a Basketball game, or traveling to work to help make money for more experiences.

Steps to take to be a better driver:

When I first received my license, I was very strict about driving and followed all the rules, even counting at all the stop signs. However, with the comfort that comes with driving over time and the casual use people have with the rules, it’s easy to start cutting corners. It’s easy to tell yourself it’s okay to check one more message or to change the song. Or that it’s easy to roll through a stop sign. But with the reminder of how intense the consequences can be with such simple, small decisions, I want and need to do better. I would love to create a life where I know my decisions will only be a side character to their beautiful life. I want others to see my example and see that I don’t touch my phone when I drive, that I am calmer and kinder to the other cars around me, and that I work hard to drive safely. I want to encourage my friends and family to be more aware and careful. I want to drive a beautiful life.