Red Lights and Reality Checks

It was supposed to be a routine drive home after a late-night food run; nothing out of the ordinary. My cousin, exhausted but determined, glanced at the GPS, saw our estimated arrival time, and decided he could “shave a few minutes off.” I didn’t think much of it until he started pushing the speed limit, weaving through traffic, and treating yellow lights like they were just suggestions. My stomach tightened as we approached an intersection just as the light turned red. He went for it. The other car did too. For a split second, I braced for impact. By some miracle, we weren’t hit, but the blaring horns and screeching tires were enough to make me question everything. Was saving two minutes worth our lives?

That night stuck with me, not just because I was terrified but because I realized how common reckless driving is. It’s not just speeding; it’s texting, eating, pretending to be a DJ, or driving when we’re too tired to function. Too many people treat driving like it’s a video game, but there’s no respawning in real life. Every year, thousands of lives are lost due to preventable accidents, and the root of the problem often comes down to one thing: lack of education and awareness.

Driver education isn’t just about passing the written driving test or knowing road signs, it’s about building habits that keep people alive. A lot of new drivers, especially teens and young adults, assume that knowing how to steer and press the gas is enough. But real driving skills involve knowing when to slow down, anticipating other people’s mistakes, and making choices that prioritize safety over convenience.

If I’m being honest, before that night, I never really thought about what made someone a good driver beyond basic mechanics. But seeing firsthand how quickly things can go wrong changed that. I started paying attention; not just to how I drove but to how everyone around me did too. I noticed how many people speed through neighborhoods, text at red lights, or take turns without signaling. The worst part? It’s not always strangers. I’ve been in the car with family who get distracted, who don’t take driving seriously, or who joke about pushing their limits. And I get it, it’s easy to feel invincible until something happens. But once you’ve had a close call, you realize that even small decisions can have life-changing consequences.

Reducing traffic fatalities isn’t just about individuals making better choices, it’s also about creating safer roads, enforcing stricter laws, and encouraging the use of new technology. Stricter penalties for reckless driving can make people think twice before speeding or texting behind the wheel. Better road design, like adding more visible lane markings, fixing potholes that force sudden swerves, and increasing traffic light visibility, can eliminate unnecessary risks. And advancements in car technology, like automatic emergency braking and lane departure warnings, can act as an extra layer of protection when human error kicks in. But at the core of it all, driver education needs to be emphasized. If people aren’t taught to value safety from the beginning, bad habits form early and stick around.

That’s why I’ve made a commitment to be a better driver, not just for myself but for everyone on the road. I keep my phone on silent when I drive, follow speed limits, and use my turn signals (which, for some reason, seems like an optional feature for a lot of drivers). More importantly, I speak up when I see someone making risky choices. It’s not always easy to tell a friend they’re being reckless, but I’d rather have an awkward conversation than sit in a hospital room wishing I had said something.

One thing that needs more attention is how driver education is approached in schools. Going to high school in Alabama I wasn’t even required to take a driving course. After researching the ones that do, a lot of programs just focus on getting students through the written test and a handful of supervised driving hours. But real-world situations, like handling aggressive drivers, knowing what to do if your car breaks down in a dangerous spot, or understanding how fatigue affects reaction time, are just as important. Schools should be expanding driver education courses to include more situational training, maybe even using virtual reality simulations to test reactions to sudden hazards. Learning these things in a controlled environment could make all the difference when it happens in real life.

We can’t change the fact that driving is risky, but we can change how we approach it. Every decision behind the wheel matters, not just for the driver but for everyone else on the road. The next time someone thinks about shaving a few minutes off their ETA, I hope they remember that no text, no beat-the-clock challenge, and no moment of impatience is worth a life. Because in the end, the real flex isn’t how fast you got somewhere, it’s getting there safely at all.