When Statistics Have Names

I’ll start off this essay by saying driving has been a huge part of my life. First, I go to school in Greensboro, North Carolina while my family lives in Virginia. Even before I went to college my best friends lived over an hour and a half away from me. Driving was a thing I enjoyed so I never took it too seriously. For proof of that we can look at the fact that I got a speeding ticket. I was going 84 miles an hour in a 70. My parents were not happy with me. First they took my car away for a month and then I had to go to a 40 hour driving class. The worst things you could do to a teenager, immobilize them and then bore them to death. Despite the dullness of the class even at that age I could see the importance of the content. I learned the skill of defensive driving. I also learned why everyone should know how to drive defensively. At the time I saw all the statistics used in that class as a scare tactic but looking back on it those were staggering numbers to take in. However, at that point I was still 17 and I was just looking to get out of that dim room and away from all the lectures to get back to my summer. I was able to complete the class. Due to my attendance in the driving class the judge dropped my case keeping the speeding ticket off my record resulting in zero dollars in fines as well. I did still have to pay for the class however. So in the end my takeaway was to stop speeding so I don’t ever have to take that class again. With my ticket situation being resolved I got my car back and the world could start spinning again.

Maybe a year later, I was hanging out with a bunch of my friends. One of those friends had just gotten a Moped and he was showing it off too. We all had turns riding passenger on the moped. It was a great experience but it had to end at some point so we all said our goodbyes and went home. Two weeks later my friend had gotten hit by a garbage truck while riding his moped. When you get a slight bit of solace from hearing that your friend had died on impact rather than suffering it changes your perspective on certain things. Sitting at his funeral those statistics that were just there to scare me were no longer numbers. Now those statistics had a name. Thousands of names actually. And it’s easier to remember that over 100 people die per day in the United States due to motor vehicle accidents. Before the number had just been a lot. Now when you have to look in the eyes and give your condolences to your friend’s family, driving is serious.

I would say that I do take driving seriously now. It would be hard not to. I believe I owe it to my friend when driving up to a stop sign that I make a complete stop and take another look rather than rolling through it. I owe it to my friends and family to know how long it takes for a person to react and how much distance it takes for a car to break going at 60 miles per hour. It is also important to remember that using high beams in fog lowers visibility. Finally, I owe it to myself and every other driver on the roads with me to remember what I was taught in drivers education but also my defensive driving course.

I always had what they call a lead foot. When I am driving especially on the highway my foot will just push down more and more without me intentionally doing so. This would cause me to go a little faster than I probably should. I try to be mindful of it but even so I sometimes catch myself doing it. I attempt to mitigate this by using cruise control when I can to keep my speed constant. It is important for people to know that driving is a skill where we have strengths and weaknesses. Often we can fix our weaknesses by recognizing them and learning how to improve. The more we understand about driving, traffic laws and our vehicles the safer we can be as a collective on the roads. The more information we can give to new drivers the safer we can be as a country. There also needs to be a continued learning of experienced drivers as to stay informed and continue learning. Lastly, there needs to be a cultural understanding of the possible dangers of driving to keep our friends and loved ones from being apart of those scary statistics.