Driving Change

Driving Change

In America, driving isn’t just a privilege; it’s practically a requirement. Unless, of course, you’re my friend Jaden, who, at 18, still refuses to get his license, forcing the rest of us to be his personal chauffeurs. Driving comes with numerous benefits and offers teens freedom from their parents to do what they want, go where they want, and be where they want to be. However, the idea of putting teens behind the controls of a 2,000-pound high-speed metal machine can be harrowing. The largest safety net currently in place that allows us to trust our teens is driver’s education. A well-structured and efficient driver’s education program is essential to properly preparing young drivers. I was fortunate to train under a great teacher; however, some of my friends took online accelerated driver’s ed, and the difference in our driving skills is eminent. This had led me to the conclusion that drivers ed needs to be incorporated into every single teens high school curriculum. I have taken driving safety very seriously yet, I still have some bad habits that require immediate correction. While a mix of proper training and a little bit of luck have allowed me to personally avoid any accidents, I have experienced some scary driving. Thinking of young kids behind the wheel can be scary but you must remember you were once that kid. While we can’t go back in time and give you a better driver’s education, we can work to reduce the number of deaths caused by car accidents by stressing the importance of A well-designed driver’s education program.

Twenty-seven hours of class time, six hours of driving, six hours of observation, and a final driving test may sound like a lot, but trust me, every minute is invaluable. These are the requirements I personally had to meet in order to pass drivers education and obtain my license. It was a large comment and often tiring but it was time well spent. I have been driving for two and a half years and I have yet to get into a car accident or get pulled over. I am very proud of this achievement and relate it to my refined training by an instructor who has been teaching drivers ed since before I could walk. I have a friend however, who did not take drivers ed with him and instead elected to take it online to save himself time. He skipped through the online lessons and met with a neighbor to complete his driving time and the test. His instructor cut their driving time short and gave them the go ahead because they found my friend to be a sufficiently good driver. This made me jealous! You’re telling me I could have saved myself weeks of afterschool class and driving by taking it online and driving with the neighbor in his tesla? Hensite, I am not jealous one bit. He had since completing drivers ed been pulled over twice, sentenced to court, fined, and been sentenced to serve community service. He ended up paying and spending more time on his tickets, than it took me to complete the full drivers ed course. A majority of his headache was simply because he didn’t know it was illegal to pass a school bus that was dropping off kids. He hasn’t been in any car accidents yet. His brother, on the other hand, who took the same driver’s ed shortcut, has been in multiple accidents and totaled two cars all before the age of 19. Let’s put into perspective what the difference in our situations had turned out to be. By putting my full attention into the refined drivers ed course offered by my school, I have avoided any legal trouble and I have completely avoided any potentially life threatening accidents. By electing to shortcut drivers ed, my friend and his brother have gone through a great deal of legal trouble, destroyed two cars, been sentenced with community service and fines, and have put their own lives and other peoples lives at risk. Is a few hours of class time really equal to all that?

You don’t only have to take my word and experience on the value of drivers ed, there is research to prove it. A study conducted by experts in 2024, has many statistics to show the benefits of drivers ed. The study claims “Young drivers who do not participate in a driver’s ed course are 24% more likely to be involved in an injury or fatal accident.” Are you willing to take a one in four odds chance of you or a loved one dying and or potentially being the cause of someone else’s death? A study conducted by easy drivers ed reports that drivers ed not only decreases your odds of suffering a potentially fatal accident, it also saves you money. “Many insurance companies offer discounts ranging from 5% to 25% to young drivers who have completed a driver’s education course, acknowledging the correlation between driver education and improved driving habits.” These studies are just a few of the many out there that show the benefits of driver’s education. Driver’s education is currently only required in 37 states, and in many of those, if you are old enough, it is not required. I believe driver’s education should be incorporated into the standard education system for every sophomore in the United States. While that may seem a little extreme, there are tremendous benefits. Because drivers ed is currently not always mandatory, the quality and access to drivers ed for all teens is different. Making it a part of the standard curriculum would solve this problem and level the playing field for all teens. There is more research that supports my claim. According to NHTSA, drivers aged 16 to 19 are nearly three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash. Teens are also more likely to drive distracted or under the influence. Research shows that driver’s education can significantly reduce crash risk among teens. Studies have shown that driver’s education programs can lower the number of crashes by up to 10%. While the numbers may vary depending on the state and the quality of the education, if the program were nationwide and high-quality, it could potentially save thousands of lives. While the real life application of 10th grade math class is often questioned and hard to show, a semester of drivers ed would literally save thousands of lives.

Just last week, part of what influenced me to write this essay, my girlfriend was rear-ended by a distracted driver. Her car was totaled and she is suffering from severe back and neck pain. With the convenience of cell phones it is too easy to become distracted while driving. My own car has a cell phone mount on the dashboard which makes using the GPS very convenient. However, it also makes seeing any notifications very convenient. They pop up over the maps and far too many times I let curiosity win and I tap on them to see what it says. Even worse, I will attempt to respond to them which has led me to far too many scary situations. I know I am not alone in the fight against distracted driving however it is a fight worth fighting. No text message I will ever send will be worth mine or anyone else’s life. Every 16 year old I know has a phone, these are habits that can start young. This also means they are habits that need to be addressed early. It has taken my own girlfriend getting her car totaled by a distracted driver to motivate me to combat my bad habits. While I am somewhat ashamed to say that I know I am not alone. I challenge anyone reading this to challenge yourself to put your phone down while driving. Distracted driving is a large fight to fight but it starts with you and I.

Try to think back to a time when you were scared in the passenger seat, completely at the mercy of the driver, holding on for dear life. I bet you can remember one. Just because we all share these experiences doesn’t mean they are good. Personally, I have a few memories growing up being scared in my moms car. The experience of watching her drive awfully close to the curb, completely in the bike lane, nearly hit someone, and all while messing with her phone is ingrained in my memory. While I have always felt like my mother is a good driver, I recently found out that she herself took an accelerated drivers ed class with one of her neighbors as the instructor. Further strengthening my personal value of drivers education and my belief that every single teen would benefit from a state mandated drivers ed class.

Do you know what the number one cause of death of teens is? I’ll tell you what, it’s not math class and it’s not PE, it’s car accidents. According to NHTSA, car crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. teenagers. There is nothing more important than your life. Especially nothing on your phone worth putting your life and others’ lives at risk on the road. Through research and personal experience I have come to understand the tremendous benefits of driver’s education. While we can all relate to the pain of driving behind old drivers, they were once young drivers as long as all of us were once young drivers too. The best thing we as current drivers on the road can do for our safety and the future generations safety is understand the importance of a proper drivers education. I promise you, no matter how boring drivers ed may sound to kids, the future generation will never regret taking a driver’s education class when they grow into adults living happy lives, unimpacted by the tragedy of a fatal car accident.