A Personal Journey Towards Responsible Road Safety

I’m the youngest of five. Over the years, I watched each of my siblings take the wheel as they turned sixteen. Like any sibling would, I’d make jabs about their driving skills and jokes about being frightened for my life. When it was my turn to learn to drive, I spent hours in an empty parking lot, feeling a rush of fear as the speedometer reached a whopping 10 miles per hour. I felt wholly unsure that I should be in control of such a large and imposing machine. My siblings laughed at me then, which I suppose was only fair.

That was eight years ago. Those many years behind the wheel have increased my confidence and calm, while still maintaining caution. In more ways than one, this is thanks to my Dad. After my initial parking lot adventure, my Dad took 15-year-old me out a few nights a week to practice driving. It terrified me. Every single time. Through his patience and guidance, I was able to graduate from parking lots to neighborhoods, to streets, and finally to highways (woohoo!). He taught me the importance of practicing defensive driving and keeping plenty of space around the vehicle.

Less than three years later, someone wasn’t so careful. As a pedestrian in a crosswalk, my Dad was struck by a vehicle and killed. Like I said: my carefulness and confidence behind the wheel are thanks to my Dad, in more ways than one.

Driving can become a monotonous task if we let it. Many people are aware of the problems that driving under the influence causes. However, to reduce deaths related to driving, we need to educate more thoroughly about the consequences surrounding driving. The driver that killed my father was not drunk or intoxicated in any way. It was not late at night, dark, rainy, or icy. That day was just like any other, that is until it turned my world upside down. Driving is just as dangerous when drowsy and distracted by phone calls, texts, and even music.

These tragedies are often the result of a lack of understanding, awareness, and skills among drivers. Education, in this context, acts as a beacon (or headlight, if you’ll pardon the pun), illuminating the path to responsible and safe driving. Understanding the importance and details behind road regulations is not just an academic exercise for teenagers in driver’s ed; it is a vital component in creating an environment where drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists can safely coexist. Outreach and involvement of victims within education is a good way to turn the shock value of statistics into a tangible example of the impact a few seconds of poor judgment can have on countless lives.

While driver education lays the groundwork for safer roads based on its users, it’s equally important to carry more caution and steps into our everyday routine to further reduce the number of vehicular deaths. On a systematic scale, stricter licensing requirements represent one such measure, ensuring that only qualified individuals with the necessary knowledge and skills are granted the privilege of driving. Cases of reckless driving can be significantly reduced through regular training and updates for licensed drivers, keeping them informed about changes in traffic laws and safety regulations. Regular vehicle maintenance, encompassing checks on brakes, tires, lights, and other essential components, ensures that the vehicle operates at its optimal capacity, minimizing the risk of mechanical failures.

Promoting responsible driving within one’s social circle is an additional step that everyone can and should take. As a college student, it’s easy to get swept up into the party scene. One of the most essential parts of this includes ensuring a designated safe driver on nights out and not letting friends get behind the wheel if they are showing any kind of behavior that endangers themselves or others. I would far rather be out late driving a friend home than hear of an accident. Encouraging friends and family members to adopt responsible driving habits and intervening if unsafe behavior is observed contributes to creating safer roads, as well as setting an example for others to do so.

In my eight years of driving, I have been in one accident. A couple of years ago, on New Year’s Eve, I worked a regular day shift on a register. All day long, customers would come through my line, and we’d make small talk about party plans, cheese platters, and most of all: the weather and the state of the roads. For some odd hours during my shift, it had been sleeting, creating thick sheets of ice across the city. So, when I finally ended my shift and scraped the ice off my windows, I prepared to make a cautious drive back home. This drive usually only took around five or so minutes. I made it to the end of my street, and feeling confident that I had gotten through the worst, took a left turn to cross a last thousand yards before hitting a thick patch of ice and sliding into a ditch. Now, no one got hurt. Luckily, no other vehicles or obstacles were in my path, and the outcome included a misaligned tire and pushing the car up the street in the cold.

My accident was not major. But it still acted as yet another wake-up call that these accidents and tragedies can happen incredibly close to our homes and incredibly close to our hearts.

Today, as a student who studies transportation and the importance of safe and reliable infrastructure, roads, and walkways, safe driving is as important to me as ever. It is incredibly important to encourage those around me to practice safe driving, as well as to further my own education to create safer roads for everyone. I take care to use spatial awareness of pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists when driving. This includes taking a moment before driving to think about where I’m going and how to get there. If I need directions, I get them before starting the car. When in groups, I do my best to encourage safe driving by assuring that the driver only needs to focus on the road, rather than directions or any other sort of distraction.

With so many of us on the roads, we cannot ensure safety all alone. However, as individuals, we can encourage and guide others to be safer and smarter through our education and example.