A Painful Lesson

As a 17-year-old new driver, the thrill of having a license and owning an old, beat-up Saturn filled my friends and me with excitement. We often broke the rules to impress one another, acting as though we were invincible on the road. Such behavior, however, leads only to two possible outcomes: either you are lucky enough to outgrow it, or you learn a hard lesson. Unfortunately for me, fate chose the latter.

It was a bright Saturday evening, and I was rushing to my sales job to get some overtime with my trainer. The commute was a familiar one—so familiar that I barely paid attention as I drove. At one point, I approached two intersections in quick succession. The second intersection was under construction, with cones and workers scattered around. For reasons I cannot fully recall, I failed to notice that the light at the second intersection was red. Perhaps my mind, on autopilot, mistook the green light at the first intersection as an indicator for the second. I was halfway through the intersection when I looked up and realized my mistake. A car collided with the back end of my Saturn, sending me spiraling into the cones of the construction zone.

Our country relies heavily on personal vehicles, with most people commuting alone to work or school every day. This makes our roads constantly congested, increasing the importance of safe driving practices. Drivers need to be cautious, defensive, and fully aware every time they get behind the wheel. Without these habits, the likelihood of an accident grows every day.

Since my accident, I’ve learned three key lessons that can help everyone avoid accidents and make the roads safer. First, stay completely aware while driving at all times. This means no phones, no driving while drowsy, and no letting music or passengers distract you. Second, assume that the drivers around you will forget the law or ignore it entirely. If you drive for more than five minutes, you’ll inevitably see someone run a red light, exceed the speed limit, or act carelessly in some way. Third, nothing is worth getting to your destination faster than the road permits. There’s no reason to drive like a rushed businessman on the road. If every driver practiced these habits, along with other safe driving practices, our roads would be safer and more pleasant to use.

If you look at the drivers around you, it won’t take long to find someone glancing at their phone, adjusting the radio, or engaging in a deep conversation. Multitasking behind the wheel has become increasingly common, making the road more dangerous than ever. It’s crucial to remember that driving requires your full attention. There’s no reason a driver can’t be aware of everything around them—blind spots, intersections, pedestrians, and other vehicles—if they stay focused. Re-educating people on this simple truth could significantly reduce accidents.

Educating future drivers to assume that bad driving will occur almost always is essential. Humans are inherently imperfect, and until self-driving cars dominate the roads, even the most attentive drivers will make mistakes. As a driver, if you don’t expect the car in front of you to make a sudden error or assume that others may fail to yield, you increase the risk of accidents. Many drivers won’t turn on a green light promptly, stay within lane lines, or check for pedestrians. Once a driver adopts a defensive mindset, acknowledging these realities, their driving skill and ability to navigate safely will improve significantly.

Our culture has placed an unhealthy priority on saving time, and this is painfully evident on the roads. Drivers speeding 20 miles over the limit or running red lights just to reach the next street are commonplace. These reckless behaviors put lives—both their own and others’—at unnecessary risk, often for trivial reasons like arriving at McDonald’s a minute sooner. While “driving like an old grandma” is often mocked, it should be embraced as the standard. Although it isn’t mandated by law, cultivating a culture of cautious and responsible driving would create safer roads for everyone. Driving is a privilege, not a right, and no one is entitled to disregard the rules and endanger others.

It cannot be stressed enough how critical it is to practice three fundamental principles of safe driving: staying fully aware, driving defensively, and exercising caution. Adopting these habits will not only reduce accidents but also make driving a more enjoyable experience for all. New drivers, in particular, must be taught to expect others to break the rules because they inevitably will. By embedding this mindset into driver education, we can hope for a future where accidents and fatalities significantly decrease.

The grim reality of road fatalities haunts countless families across the country. I, too, could have faced devastating consequences if I had entered that intersection a mere second earlier during my accident. Had I taken my time and exercised more caution, I might still be driving my old Saturn instead of losing it in a preventable collision. Yet, I am grateful for the hard-earned lesson—one that many take years to learn—that choosing safety and valuing life is the only right choice every time we hit the road.