Driving Safety

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2019 almost 2,400 teens in the United States were killed and about 258,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for children from 15 to 18 years old. These statistics are not acceptable. There are steps I have taken to be a better and safer driver.

As a teenage driver, it starts with driver education courses. Each state has different requirements in terms of how material is presented, from online courses to in-person classes. Regardless of the modality, it is imperative that students take the courses seriously. This is where I learned driving laws and statistics about injury and death rates related to unsafe driving. I was introduced to the at-risk behaviors that contribute to these statistics. It would have been easy to let the online training play in the background while I played on the phone or watched a movie. However, I felt a responsibility to take the time to listen attentively and understand the content being covered. For my behind the wheel training, I worked with my parents to ensure I practiced traveling in a variety of driving settings, such as residential streets, round-a-bouts, interstates, driving in various weather conditions, driving at night, driving with the sun in my face, driving in traffic, and driving in rural areas. This was all to increase my comfort level by driving in various settings.

A step I always take is giving myself plenty of time to drive to my destination. By doing this, I avoid the temptation to speed in order to make up time. If traveling to an unfamiliar place, I take the time to pull the location up on my map application on my phone to determine how long the trip will take. This also gives me the opportunity to review the route so I can become familiar with it and lower the likelihood of becoming lost. I always set up the map application so that it shows up on my car display to be easily viewed.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute revealed that in 2020 7% of drivers ages 15-20 that were involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted, the largest proportion for any age group. I have set up my cell phone to be on Do Not Disturb when I am driving. By doing this, I avoid the temptation of checking my phone anytime a receive a notification. I also made the choice not to eat and drive at the same time due to the distraction eating creates when you are driving. When I have friends in the car with me, I avoid glancing over at their phone and ask them not to distract me when I am driving. I keep the sound of my car radio at a moderate level in order so that I can hear important sounds, such as other vehicles’ horns or emergency vehicle sirens.

My dad works as a safety consultant in his profession. He has taught me the importance of properly adjusting my mirrors before taking off on the road. Properly adjusted mirrors reduce blind spots and the likelihood of being involved in a sideswipe accident by allowing me to be aware of my surroundings in order to make the best decisions while on the road. He educated me on the importance of looking down the road and not getting tunnel vision. This allows me to identify what is going on down the road and to adjust as needed instead of reacting. One of the most important things he taught me was following distance. Driving with proper following distance has prevented me from being involved in a couple of accidents over the last couple of years. Practicing proper following distance has given me the necessary time to react to unexpected events with the vehicles in front of me.

I am confident that the safe driving behaviors I practice provide good examples to my friends and my younger sister. This is important to me because in middle school I lost a classmate in an automobile accident. The accident killed my classmate and her parents. This tragedy was in the back of my mind when I first started my driver safety courses. I take driving seriously and know that by consistently practicing my safe driving behaviors, I am making the roads safer for me and other motorists.