Driver Education Initiative 2024: In the Driver’s Seat

‘You better finish that Drivers Ed class. It will save you on the test day, was yelled out by my mother as I passed through the kitchen and headed to my bedroom. Thinking to myself, If I had heard that phrase once, I would have heard it a hundred times. My mother’s litany was still buzzing in my ears and forcing me not to procrastinate, so I got back on the computer to work on the driver’s education course. What was the big deal? As a novice driver, I drove sufficiently, a little heavy-footed, but decent. I realized I did not grasp the concept of what a safe driver was until a DPS officer slid into the front seat next to me on test day. As the stern officer verbally laid out the directions and route for my driving test, I suddenly grasped the gravity of the situation. Goodness gracious , I started sweating in mid-December and hurriedly turned off the heater. I tried to swallow but almost choked on a dry throat. I immediately realized I should have paid more attention to the driver education material.

After completing the drivers ed course, I was a little overwhelmed and worried by the discovery of all that I was doing wrong behind the wheel. Driver education is the first step against reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving. Driver education is teens’ first exposure to properly operating a vehicle on the roadway. Driver education allows teens to learn how to navigate the car and the roadway laws. It will enable the opportunity to log 150 hours of driving under various conditions with a parent in the car as a monitor. The driver’s education course covered all the concepts and tactics of becoming a safe driver.

In my opinion, the number one step to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is paying attention to the roadway, not your phone or the radio. My Dad, a multi-skilled maintenance technician, coined the phrase: be aware of your surroundings and pay attention. My Dad saved my life by unplugging my radio directly after getting my driver’s license. The lack of distractions from the radio and hands-free phones made me pay attention to the road. I thought it was barbaric then, but now I realize how important concentrating on the road is in being a safe driver. Focusing on the roadway and paying attention to your surroundings is the number one factor in driver safety.

Unfortunately, not all drivers behind the wheel pay attention to the road or the law. Recently, I was involved in an accident due to being struck by a drunk driver. It was a hit-and-run in front of the Waffle House witnessed by an on-duty police officer. I honestly think what saved my life was that I saw the truck coming and pulled into the ditch. If I had not been aware of my surroundings, the accident would have been a head-on collision. Someone directed me to wait at the gas station while DPS and the local authorities wrapped up the drunk driver, who was uninjured and yelling about his rights. Suddenly, I felt like I was back in the front seat with the DPS trooper on test day. I was given a field sobriety test, a mouth swab test, and a license and insurance verification. My fear started to pour out after completing and passing all the tests and checks. When the trooper said,” You did good, kid, by getting into the ditch,” the dam broke, and I started to cry for some reason. Amid the coughing, snorting, and tears, the DPS trooper calmly told me to call my mother, and I did. Thankfully, the DPS trooper took the phone out of my hand when my mother answered because I couldn’t get a word past the lump in my throat. As the DPS trooper completed the call, I could hear my mom crying on the phone, and it made me want to cry even harder. Not because I did wrong but because of what could have happened. When I finally got home, I retold my mother about the accident in vivid detail; amid the tears, all she kept repeating was, thank God I was paying attention to the road, and you’re grounded.

When asked what steps can be taken to be a safer driver, being aware of your surroundings and paying attention to the road are critical for survival while driving. Being a courteous driver, obeying the speed limit, not using or texting on the phone, and prioritizing paying attention to the roadway are mandatory.