Safety in the Driver’s Seat

Every time we get behind the wheel, we take a risk and make thousands of choices that impact our driving. Being on the road requires concentration, observation skills, attention, control, and the ability to make split-second decisions. However, there are distractions that can get in the way of safe and defensive driving, such as substances, conversations, phones, music, weather conditions, fatigue, preoccupation, and much more. 

The unfortunate truth is that inexperienced and distracted drivers have the potential to cause harm to others on the road. This danger is amplified when it comes to teenage drivers who are in fact inexperienced, make daring decisions, or drive under influence. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), teenage drivers have a much higher risk for being involved in car crashes than adults who have the same blood alcohol concentration (BAC). It was also found that 5% of high school students drove after drinking within the last month and a whole 17% rode with someone who had been drinking. 

I was initially shocked when I heard this information. Driving while under the influence is a deadly decision, but it is normalized for some teenagers. It is difficult to truly understand the weight of this situation just from statistics. They seem as if they are just important numbers, almost disconnected from the real tragedy they represent. However, these facts and numbers suddenly became very real for me during my high school years.

About three years ago, while I was attending a Defensive Driving School, tragedy struck my entire school. Two high school seniors crashed and unfortunately passed away. It was later found that the person behind the wheel was intoxicated. Silence and grief echoed throughout the entire school. We had heard about the risks of impaired driving, but experiencing it firsthand threw us back into reality. Our hearts went out to the families of these boys. The death of the two students taught everyone important lessons, from cherishing your loved ones to not getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. 

The next week, my driver’s education instructor taught us a lesson about driving under the influence and the impacts. After experiencing the death of two students at my school and after hearing that lesson, I vowed to myself to never let my friends make that same mistake. Why would his friend let him drive both of them while drunk? I asked myself. Maybe he did not pay attention to driver’s education? Or he did not want to call his parents? Either way, there were many possible solutions I had learned about. They could have called another friend to pick them up, taxi, Uber, or just stayed the night.

My Defensive Driving School gave me the facts about driving under the influence and engraved that into my brain. Despite one’s confidence and feeling that they are okay, even a couple drinks can impair someone’s driving and critical thinking skills. Every mile you drive requires hundreds of decisions that you cannot clearly make while under the influence of a drug. It also provided me with resources on what to do if you are not okay to drive home but need a way back. Uber, calling a parent, or calling a friend are all better solutions than driving home yourself. Asking a parent to tell them that you are intoxicated and cannot drive home might be scary, but they would much rather get you home safely than have you risk your own life and the life of others on the road. 

This unfortunate event, and my driving school, taught me about the true risk of driving under the influence. Driver’s education also taught me ways to drive safely every day. From the lectures to the hands-on experiences, I was able to grow confident in my driving abilities. I was taught to stay alert at all times and be ready for anything, always let someone know where you will be driving and your expected arrival time, and avoid distractions. Driving with friends or while listening to music is a fun experience, but focusing on safe driving should always be a priority. It is so easy to get distracted, but that half second you look at your phone to change your music can be costly. Now, every time I get behind the wheel, I make sure I am prepared with verbal directions and a song queue so I do not look at my phone. Driving is a privilege, but one that we must learn how to navigate safely. 

Driver’s education might seem tedious, but it truly saves lives. We are exposed to so many distractions in our day-to-day lives that we might not even realize, but my experience in driver’s education emphasized the need to be in control behind the wheel. Learning and growing with a certified instructor helped me build my driving knowledge and confidence behind the wheel. According to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, young adults who have not completed driver’s education are 24% more likely to be involved in a fatal accident and are 16% more likely to have an accident themselves. There are many reasons that people choose not to enroll in a driver’s education course, but its importance should not be overlooked. The safety of yourself and other drivers on the road depends on every person’s ability to drive safely, so if you don’t feel okay to drive for any reason, do not take that risk. Let’s all take the responsibility for safe roads.