How Do We Fix Who is in the Driver’s Seat?

I am from the Big Island of Hawai’i. There is not much to do here for fun. People often like to “go for a cruise,” but sadly, not everyone makes it back every time. As a small island, people work on the opposite side of the island and make the drive daily, often at all hours of the day. Our community has lost too many individuals who were just trying to make a living. Fortunately, I have never been in an accident firsthand, nor have I had anyone very close to me be involved in one. However, I know numerous people and families who have had to endure the pain of a crash. This year alone, our island has lost many individuals due to motor crashes. The most recent victim was a young man who was soon to be a father and just beginning his adult life. Another similarly tragic incident earlier in the year involved a young man who was just trying to get home from work and went head-on with another vehicle, resulting in the loss of the other driver’s life. As I mentioned, I have not had a close family member or myself be in a car crash, but that does not mean I am a stranger to the effects it leaves on the community.

As we all know, everyone on the road has a driver’s license or is supposed to have one, meaning they went through a driver’s education course, passed the written test with their local DMV, and passed the road test as well. I believe the driver’s education courses need to be updated and need to be made more strict. Driver’s education is the universal stepping stone that every individual must endure before getting behind the wheel. Therefore, it should be challenging, test one’s knowledge, and prepare individuals for any situation they may encounter while on the road. That is how important driver’s education should be, and that is how instructors should do their due diligence to prevent deaths on the road. I believe the flaw in the system is that the driver’s education courses are not as tough as they should be and that the instructors and participants are not taking it as seriously as they should be. Participants often see it as just another thing on the checklist. I say this because I know my class was very relaxed. We never had tests and often did not do much bookwork. In the moment, I loved it, but looking at the state of our drivers now, I say this needs to be changed.

I have been fortunate enough to never have been in a serious car accident. However, I did have a teammate who was in a crash due to a reckless, under-the-influence driver who was overtaking and speeding on a highway. My teammate and her close friend were both sophomores in high school. They were in critical condition and airlifted to another island for care. Her friend’s mother and sister were also in the vehicle. The sister was ten and was thankfully released from the hospital. Sadly, her mother didn’t make it that day. The driver of the vehicle at fault was driving under the influence and had many previous DUI charges. To me, this is a prime example of how the driver’s education courses are failing, and, more importantly, how the traffic departments are failing their people as well. Due to our failing systems, a man with multiple DUI charges was able to retain his license, costing a family their mom. On top of the overarching system not doing its job, the education courses are not teaching safe defensive driving to the extent they should be. In some instances, there is no avoiding what will happen, but for others, good defensive driving could save lives or cause less severe injuries.

Together with a more serious approach in both the classroom and the higher systems, drivers should be required to retake both the written and the road tests every so many years. We live in an ever-changing world, and with that, our driver’s education should also be ever-changing and updated with the times, prompting a need for updated drivers tests and courses. Courts should work on enforcing their laws and keeping a better watch or control over those on the roads. Traffic and road law violations should be an immediate cause for license suspension without question, and repeat offenders should be up for community service or, depending on the offense, minimal jail time. As we’ve seen, motor deaths frequently have more weight in annual death rates than they should. Hawai’i alone records about one hundred deaths a year from motor vehicle crashes. There is a lot to be said and a lot to be done to make safer roads for our future generations, but the easiest place to start is in the class with driver’s education courses. Those in charge and able need to emphasize the importance of the class, the importance of paying attention and genuinely learning what you are being taught, on top of the fact that they need to update the curriculum more often. We start there and work towards better, safer roads.