An ICU Nurses Perspective On Safe Driving

Driver education is the very base of safe and considerate drivers across this country. It is blue print for all drivers to follow if they wish to remain safe while driving and not in the hospital due to poor judgment. As an ICU Nurse for over 5 years, unfortunately, I saw a lot of young adults be admitted to the ICU because they were involved in some type of motor vehicle accident. Often times these individuals where considered “new drivers” in the sense that many of them had only had their license for a couple years. Without going into the graphic details of their injuries, these young adults would spend a long time in the ICU in recovery as their body attempted to heal itself. These patients that I took care of were wonderful individuals who seemed very responsible and often times were the passenger when the accident occurred. According to these patients it was the driver who caused the crash that seemed to lack driver education and understanding of the laws linked to driving on the road. With putting a strong emphasis on driver education in this country we can build a strong base for new drivers to build off of as they become safer drivers on the roads.

The driver education needs to start earlier with all individuals regardless if they are planning to get their drivers license or not. By introducing driver education at an earlier age, you are giving them the recipe to be a safe driver on the road. So, although mom or dad are still driving them to school in the morning, they can look out the window and know what the traffic signals mean, what the blinking lights on the back of cars are for and other very basic expectations on the road that keep people safe. Once a child becomes the age where they are able to get their learners permit, they will already have the knowledge base of what makes a good driver before they even start the steps towards getting their learners permit and the exams that come along with that. It is never too early to teach safety regardless if you are the driver or the passenger.

I was involved in traumatic care accident when I was 16 years old in high school. I was the front passenger traveling with my two best friends in an SUV that my best friend who was driving had borrowed from his dad for the day. My friend was driving 70 MPH down a road where the speed limit was 40 MPH and his seat belt was not on. My friend had no driver education prior to his exposure to driver education at the time he was attempting to get his driver’s license and his lack of respect for the road and the vehicle he was driving was apparent that day. My friend lost control of his vehicle, we ran into a ditch while going 70 MPH, he was ejected from the driver’s seat into his front windshield and sustained a long deep abrasion across his forward. He was shortly after rushed to the hospital where he stayed for three days to be evaluated for possible brain injury. I was fortunate enough to be wearing my seat belt at the time of the accident and I escaped with minimal injuries.

As an ICU nurse I get to work with patients who have experienced serious injury due to car accidents. This is the time that I use to not only remind myself of how important driver education and safety is but I also educate my patients about the importance of driver safety for not just the driver of the vehicle but the passengers as well. At times the passenger will need to be the one to speak up and tell the driver if they are being unsafe. This was something I failed to do when I was the passenger involved in that car wreck when I was 16 and I regret that. I often tell them “The safer you are on the road and the more aware you are of driver education throughout your life the less likely you are to end up here in the ICU”. This statement always seemed to resonate with the young adults especially. If we all remain diligent in our journey to protect the ones we love while driving on the roads, I have no doubt we all be better for it.