Driving Through Safety

Stop signs, yield signs, traffic lights, speed limits, and traffic laws. I am staring at my computer trying to remember everything I have learned through my online driver education.

“Am I actually ready?”

I’m sixteen and a half years old. I don’t have any interest in driving yet. I enjoy the feeling of having a personal driver (my parents!) to take me whenever I need to go somewhere. Being a driver didn’t strike me yet, but I still felt obligated to finish my driving course.

My dad was the first person who taught me how to drive.

“I need six seatbelts minimum,” was the first thing he said when entering the car.

First lesson: Adjustment of mirrors and seat, knowing what’s inside the car and what each button is for, how to use turn signals, and what the gas and brake pedals were.

“I can do this.” (I couldn’t)

For the first couple of weeks my dad taught me in our neighborhood until I got my turns down and didn’t eat too much of the next lane. Only then was I able to move onto the “real roads” and drive outside of our neighborhood. I was extremely anxious, however, I was able to apply what I learned into the real world through my online driving course. Driving is a whole different experience when you’re doing it yourself, but I was able to gain a little insight of situations that may occur on the road. I became more confident.

After 3 months I was able to enroll in a driving school. They were very thorough with explaining things so I was able to pass my test. Without the specific steps I needed to take to get a license, I could’ve been in several crashes already. I knew the rules, regulations, and the meaning of the signs. There are always many people who may be clueless to those rules such as merging when there’s no space or not stopping at a stop sign, but I learned that you have to drive defensively. I passed my drivers test and now I don’t have to mindlessly stand outside my school waiting for my parents to pick me up.

There are so many different numbers when I drive by. Sixty five, thirty five, twenty five. They are limits, not suggestions. The huge red “STOP” sign is a rule not a suggestion. I plan to always abide by them. My grandfather who just arrived in the United States from the Philippines dropped me off the school. On his way home he got into an accident. He ran a red light and totaled a car. Thankfully, no one was severely injured. He had muscle soreness for weeks but no long term damages. A friend of mine’s grandmother and cousin died when a drunk driver hit their SUV on their way home from vacation. If your alcohol intake is higher o.o8% than calling someone to pick you up or getting an uber can change the course of your life and other people’s lives. Spending $15 on an Uber is better than spending thousands of dollars for a funeral. These unfortunate events can easily be avoided by simply thinking and concentrating.

Driver’s education is an important tool in receiving information about what’s necessary to know about driving. My dad drives a minimum of 90 miles a day on his way to work. He goes to a different hospital to do preventive maintenance on the machine. Every year they do a refresher course for safe driving. After a while, you become extremely comfortable at driving and may disregard specific laws. Due to that, it’s beneficial to refresh your memory about driving rules and stay up to date if there are any new laws that have been implemented. I believe this is one of the reasons why he hasn’t been in an accident yet. In the future, I would take the opportunity to take a refresher course as well so I can stay well informed and be reminded of the do’s and don’ts of driving.

Based on statistics, teens are more likely to be in car accidents because they are distracted. Most teens can’t wait to check their messages. I would say I am one of them, but tend to stay away from looking at my phone. We can gain important information through driving education, since driving is a part of the day to day routine of more than 200 million in our country, to learn how to be a defensive driver and decrease the incidence of accidents.