Regular Drivers Ed Saving Regular Lives

Every December, my family took a road trip from Eastern Oregon to the San Joaquin Valley of Central California to visit my vast extended family. I always looked forward to these trips because it meant spending 16 hours on the road with my family, passing through small, forgotten desert towns in Southeastern Oregon, Southwestern Idaho, and Northern Nevada. I would often pretend to drive behind my dad and move my feet as if I were pressing on the gas pedal and hitting the brakes as smoothly as he did. I never lasted for all 16 hours, but it made me fall in love with going on after I achieved my license.

Education is the foundation of life. Driver education is a proactive measure that equips drivers with knowledge of the road, regulations, and procedures, skills in lane changing, merging onto highways, defensive driving techniques, and enhanced attitudes to ensure drivers’ confidence and reduce anxiety and risky behavior, all necessary for safer drivers. While I understand how sensitive individuals take ownership of their driving abilities, it is no different than the constant reminders to maintain hygienic oral health or prevent illness by washing our hands. Driving is a privilege, not a right, and because of the said-and-done format of obtaining a driver’s license, it is easy to forget the privilege we carry on a small card over time.

One way to reduce the number of deaths related to driving is to promote refresher courses. The courses may be more challenging to implement due to ego and overconfidence. Still, I encourage state-wide legislators to pass bills that require a refresher driving course every time our licenses expire. The number would vary from state to state, as some licenses expire every four, eight, ten, or even 12 years, like Arizona’s. We build bad habits over time because of our overconfidence, so being reminded of simple yet impactful regulations like driving the speed limit in a school zone, using blinkers to merge, and allowing pedestrians to have their right to cross can promote the reinforcement of good driving habits.

About two years ago now, in late March 2022. My sister Maggie and her fiancé, Eduardo, who was 26 then, were driving back home after an afternoon in town. It was a two-lane road, a back road through the countryside. The sun was setting over the orange orchards when it happened in a split second. Maggie’s fiancé spotted a pickup truck in the middle of the road, hurtling at incredible speeds towards them. Eduardo tried to react by swerving around the pickup truck, but fate was already written in stone. The pickup truck swerved to smash into their red Kia Niro at 70 mph. The pickup driver was killed on impact as he flew through the windshield and several feet on the road. The front of their vehicle was shredded to pieces. Both Maggie and Eduardo sustained life-threatening injuries, with Maggie having to be helicopter to the nearest emergency room for immediate surgery. Eduardo broke his left ankle, lost hearing in his right ear, and broke bones in his left arm. My sister had several back, hip, and stomach surgeries as the G-force of the impact crumbled her like a bowling ball through tissue paper. After three months under intensive care, doctors told her it would be a miracle if she could ever walk again, let alone have a family due to the scar tissue left on her abdomen. The seat belt had ripped her abdomen open, she broke her back and clavicle, and to this day, she has yet to regain sensation in her left foot. I almost lost my sister and brother-in-law because someone chose to drive recklessly under the influence. I still struggle to build the courage to get behind the wheel because of her trauma— the way people drive around me on my way to work, merging onto the freeway, or cutting me off because I drive a 2007 Ford Focus, my mind jumps to the worst. I’m thankful to receive therapy and encourage my sisters Maggie and Eduardo to persevere because I understand that the other side of that coin is a world of depression and long-lasting physical pain.

One of the steps I can take is to remind people I love not to let others’ road rage get the best of their patience on the road. There are so many drivers hitting high speeds with distractions at the swipe of their hands, especially during bumper-to-bumper traffic when youngsters and high-ego individuals believe they are invincible behind the wheel. I can also advocate for better seat belts, car seat designs, and overall vehicle designs that accommodate the woman’s body frame, as many of the test dumbs still used today use a male body. Yet, women are 73% more likely to get injured in a car crash. As someone who almost lost their sister, I am reminded of our mortality every time I get behind the wheel for one of my favorite drives: death does not believe in special treatments.