Mindful Driving with Drivers Education

Before I hit the road at 16, the thought of driving terrified me. I was always self aware of how dangerous a car could be, and I was scared of myself operating such a vehicle instead of those around me. When it was time to learn behind the wheel, I had an instructor to do my 6 hours with. I had never driven before, not even with my family members. This allowed me to be taught good habits and the correct way as I had no incorrect foundation that needed to be corrected.

I rushed to get my driver’s license because I wanted to take the burden off my grandpa, who was my personal uber for many years. This need to drive was a necessity and only amplified when I began my sophomore year of highschool. COVID was no longer as big as a threat and this was when schools were beginning to go back, so I had an array of afterschool activities that would require a lot of driving. When learning, I made sure to be safe, especially because I had to take my 3 younger siblings to school as well. I couldn’t risk anything happening to them. Definitely without drivers education I would not have known the ways of the road like I do now.

New drivers in the present day are often ignorant of the consequences that may occur while driving. It seems like such a common thing, so it flies over the average persons’ head. This is especially the case with new and young drivers. It always surprises me when teenagers are given sports cars as their first cars. It can be tempting to push the limits of the car without thinking about the others on the road.

Although I am fortunate not to experience a car accident behind the wheel, I have had many horror stories. There was a time that my grandpa was driving us to school and all of a sudden we were struck by another car. Turns out we were collateral, there was a teenager that did not turn into the right lane causing another car to fly into us. The accident wasn’t fatal, but it definitely shook us up. Another time a close friend was hit by a car going above the speed limit exiting out of the school parking lot. Her car ended up hitting a pole.

Driver’s education teaches people how to make correct judgements and when to do things at the right time. For example, oftentimes people make right turns on reds without looking for pedestrians. I’ve seen too many times where cars hit people on skateboards and on other modes of transportation who use bike lanes. To help with the death rates, driver’s education should be more easily accessible. I have known people that couldn’t afford driving school and would skip out. I once talked about this topic to my uncle and he was confused when I said our highschool didn’t offer driver’s education. Drivers education should be implemented and accessible through highschools as highschool is the time most kids start driving. This way the teachings of topics such as alcohol abuse and drunk driving can be combined with real life examples.

As the years go by and I gain more comfortable driving, I realize that I have my own bad driving habits that put others in danger. There were times I would be exhausted and still drive somewhere, commonly at night. This is when I would experience a phenomenon called microsleep. Microsleep describes a period where the body is in a light sleep, which often lasts only a couple seconds. It essentially is falling asleep behind the wheel. During drivers education, I was warned not to drive on low alert and in emotional states, but I never thought it would affect me in such a way. I have a clear memory of me microsleeping in broad daylight. All I remember from that day is blacking out and suddenly waking up to a loud honk that startled me awake. In the 5 seconds I was out, I had drifted into the next lane, no signaling and most likely without ample space. I was lucky at that moment. Situations like this can be taught in drivers education thus providing people the knowledge needed to drive responsibly.

At the end of the day, driving means you are responsible for yourself and the others around you. There should be complete competency on the road. Hesitation kills, but knowledge and experience keeps drivers safe, every single day.