Edina’s Experience While Being a New Driver.

There is a large importance to proper driving education in the US. There are many deaths due to accidents on the road. People need to know the common laws that are used in every state and many countries around the world. Things like pedestrians having the right of way, when it’s okay and not okay to turn on red lights, and more common things like using your turn signals, mirrors, and checking blindspots regularly. A lot of people are given their driver’s license with minimum requirements, which can lead to many dangerous incidents on the road. Reducing the number of deaths can be achieved through education by telling new drivers, and giving experienced drivers refresher courses on how to be aware on the road, how to enforce passengers to be safe riders, how to spot impaired drivers on the road, and proper roadway etiquette to avoid things like road rage.

We as a people can take steps to avoid driver deaths by defensive driving techniques, abiding by the local and state road laws with no exceptions, using proper road etiquette, and being aware and undistracted drivers. We all need to work on ourselves and our driving skills and learn to be aware and attentive at all times. I have personally seen many drivers, (even those much older than I am!) looking down at their phones at red lights, and even while they are driving. This is extremely dangerous. As a new driver, it is terrifying to drive huge metal machines with my attention at 100%, where I am always checking my mirrors, blindspots, how good I am driving, and being attentive all the time. I sometimes do not understand why people are able to even look at their phones and be distracted with passengers, radios, or even other drivers on the road while driving.

I personally have never been in any car accidents, however I have been in very dangerous situations as a passenger. I was coming home from a concert one night and was unable to secure a ride home. This left me in an anxiety inducing situation, as I had 2 friends with me who also did not drive at the time, with no way to get home. Somebody we had met at the concert offered to drive us home which we graciously accepted. After wrapping up our conversations with people we met outside of the concert, I noticed our would-be driver with an almost empty bottle of Vodka in his hand. I watched as he downed the rest of the bottle and threw it away while pulling his keys from his pocket. This obviously made me very skeptical and hesitant to get in the car with him, because I would not only put my life but my other friends lives in danger by agreeing to allow an impaired driver to drive us home. I believe a guardian angel of some kind was looking out for me and my friends that night, because a lifelong friend of mine came up behind my friend group seemingly out of nowhere to say hello to me! I greeted him with a huge hug because I was so relieved to know that I would not have to get into this dangerous situation with a heavily impaired driver. My lifelong friend then drove me and my 2 other friends home with no worries, and I had never been happier to get in the car and buckle my seatbelt. Thankfully, the impaired driver allowed us to convince him to put his keys in the trunk and have him sleep in his backseat until the morning when he would be of a more clear mind to drive or call a ride home. Another experience I had with unsafe driving practices is with my own family. My step-mother would always teach me and my 2 siblings as children to buckle your seatbelts and check each other’s to make sure we were strapped in safely, because her brother died in a car accident. This death could have been prevented had he been wearing his seatbelt, as he was tragically hit by a drunk driver. The unsafe experience comes in the form of my own step-mother, who had told us this tragic story, and always taught us to be safe passengers time after time. She sometimes refuses to wear her seatbelt! My siblings, father and I always shame her and eventually get her to buckle up, however it is still scary to even be in the car when she is being unsafe.

I am a new driver, so I know that I am not the best driver and most experienced person out on the road, however I try my best. I know that I can be a better driver by putting my phone on silent, having my radio at a reasonable volume, being attentive to the drivers, pedestrians and obstacles in the road, and finally constantly checking my blindspots and using proper indicators when driving.

Driver safety is a genuine concern and passion of mine, I have been in many dangerous situations involving vehicles and want to prevent death and tragedy with my friends and family wherever possible in situations with vehicles involved.