The Steering War: The Importance of Training as You Drive

I remember the time my mother was talking to me and my brother about driving. We must have been almost of age to start getting our learner permits. I cannot remember what prompted the conversation, but I remember the message. She told us “A vehicle is a weapon, it can and will take someone’s life if improperly handled.” There was seriousness and concern in her voice. I knew this was one of those moments where my mom was not just talking to us, she was offering important instruction for life. I listened.

Many years later, I joined the United States Army and was introduced to the saying “Train as you fight.” This is a motto meaning that what you don’t practice in training, you will not be ready for in combat. With the number of deaths related to driving in the US being higher than the number of deaths in our country’s most recent wars, I believe the principle of this motto applies to the topic of safe driving.

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I got my driver’s license there, my first car there, and I learned to drive on the beautiful island. However, I moved to North Carolina after being a driver for about 8 years (that’s plenty of experience, right?). As I walked to the NC DMV office, I thought that driving would be the same as in PR, and it would only be a matter of exchanging my PR driver’s license for a NC one. Wrong. I had to take a test, and I failed the test, why? Railroads and center turn lanes. We don’t have those in PR. So, I spent the next several days studying for the exam retake, and low and behold, I passed it. I was definitely now ready to be a safe driver, right? Wrong.

While I was able to cram a lot of information about safe driving in the state of North Carolina, and the mainland US in general, I had not experienced driving outside of PR. Learning how to navigate railroad crossings and center turn lanes was a confusing experience that put me, and worse, other drivers at risk. Thankfully, I have not caused or been involved in a car accident, but that does not mean there have not been close calls. Why was I driving a “weapon,” as my mother had called it, that I had not been trained in how to use it in a new environment?

The “Train as you fight” mindset would have had me not just take a theoretical test on driving through railroad crossings and center turn lanes, it would have me conduct driver’s training with a qualified driving instructor before I was allowed to operate a vehicle. After all, I was not going to be theoretically driving, I would be actually driving. Just like soldiers conduct realistic combat training exercises regularly, I believe adult drivers should conduct mandatory driver’s training prior to being issued unrestricted driver’s licenses when relocating to a new state or territory in which they have never been issued an unrestricted driver’s license there.

We have seen the aftermath of combat in the lives of many who have served. We know that many combat veterans return scarred, both physically and mentally, from war. We also know that there are far more car accidents than combat injuries. There are plenty of people who have been scarred by a car accident. We know it is not unusual for someone to lose their loved ones in a car accident. We know there are people who have had life-changing accidents that result in physical disability. Yet, while the military performs training to reduce combat injuries, we continue to grant inexperienced, inter-state adult drivers licenses to operate vehicles based on their theoretical understanding of driving.

I believe this needs to change. I would argue that the requirements could even encompass drivers relocating to a significantly different county within the same state. For example, I now live in metro Atlanta, GA. Driving here is much more difficult simply because there is a higher number of drivers around and the roads are always congested. I have also visited rural areas in Georgia which feel much like driving in the small town I used to live in while in North Carolina. Those are two very different driving experiences. But that is another case.

For now, I believe that driver training should be mandatory even for adult drivers who have never held an unrestricted license in each state. We are all witnesses to what my mother said, vehicles can be weapons capable of taking life in untrained hands. Untrained drivers can be the soldiers behind the steering wheel in the “Steering War” that claims more lives than combat. Let’s train as we drive.