Learning From Jenny

My cousin Jenny loved a lot of things. She loved going to parties. She loved driving all my cousins and I out to eat. She loved skateboarding. She loved spending time with her son. She took me out all the time and bought me toys with my nephew. It is a weird thing to say loved because that is in the past tense. The way we speak gives clues as to what may have happened. Most people know the basic principles of drivers education and safety but do they truly know the dangers of operating a vehicle? Just about 6 years ago Jenny was drinking one night and decided to get behind the wheel, she somehow found the keys that were supposed to be hidden from her. When she drove off at unknown speeds she eventually hit the center divider on the freeway. When first responders arrived they found her in the back seat of the car when she was originally in the driver’s seat, meaning no seat belt, but thankfully she was alive.

Rushed to the Intensive Care Unit, they drained fluid from her brain and put her into an induced coma. A few months later after some recovery I saw her for the first time after the accident. I almost didn’t recognize her, but it was Jenny, it was my family. She can no longer walk, use her hands, nor really speak. The things she loved to do were taken away the moment she got behind the wheel drunk and drove irresponsibly.

Ever since that moment I’ve experienced a type of education that few ever experience. Truly knowing how driving irresponsibly can change lives. Moments like these in our life reveal why it is so extremely important to have driver’s education. To know the true dangers is not to just realize that your life might change if you drive responsibly but it is realizing the fact that your life will change. I have been in car accidents involving people not knowing the traffic laws. I felt the power of a moving vehicle only going a fraction of the speed that Jenny was. I realize that the severity of the accidents I’ve been in could have been much worse. I believe that if everyone had just a glimpse of the education and firsthand experience of the dangers of driving that I have then there would be less deaths. This is why driver’s education is so important, it saves lives and allows people in this world to continue doing what they love.

The key to saving lives on the road is driver education. Programs need to include all the important traffic laws, regulations, and driving techniques in order for the roads to be safer. But more importantly they need to include stories like Jennys. As of right now, for people over the age of 17 and a 6 months years old, drivers education is not required to get a learners permit. If driver’s education was made a requirement(so long as it is accessible and inclusive) for a learners permit then there would be safer roads. Less lives are at risk from uneducated drivers.

Drivers education doesn’t just include the text book driving techniques and regulations. It also includes awareness about the topic. Campaigns that educate the public about stories such as my cousin would help to drill more serious information about irresponsibly driving. It should not take a family member being seriously hurt to truly realize the dangers, but instead we can learn from others and previous mistakes to educate the public.

Awareness is truly key. When we get behind the wheel Jenny can be any one of us. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to others on the road. People might say my cousin was not level headed and that they would never make that mistake themselves. But the truth is that we all think these things to ourselves, until it actually happens to us. More importantly, knowing the dangers of drunk driving. We may think that we can make good decisions while driving under the influence but we can’t. When we are under the influence it is the alcohol making the decisions for us.

Because driving is so ingrained into our society we must take all the absolute measures to ensure the safety of ourselves and our loved ones. Let us take these steps in promoting campaigns and drilling drivers education programs into our society for our future. Having a driver’s education and driving responsibly may save our lives one day, so that we don’t make the same mistakes that Jenny made.