The Weight of the Wheel

The first time I sat behind the wheel, I didn’t feel free. I felt nervous. I was 18, a full-time student, a National Guardsman-in-training, and already helping pay the bills for my family. The road didn’t feel like freedom. It felt like responsibility.

At the time, I didn’t know anyone who had died in a car crash. But I did know what it meant to carry other people’s safety in my hands. Military training instills that quickly. So when I learned that over 34,000 Americans die on the road every year, more than the number of American soldiers lost in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, it wasn’t just a statistic. It was a sobering reality. Driving is something we do every day, but we don’t often pause to think about how dangerous it really is. The truth is, most people won’t be asked to go to war, but we all get behind the wheel. And that’s what makes it so risky: how routine it feels.

Driver education shouldn’t be just a checkbox on the way to getting a license. It should be a mindset shift, an understanding that driving is one of the most dangerous things we do on a regular basis. Too often, young drivers treat it like a background task. Music up, phone buzzing, eyes flicking between the road and the screen. Once, I was in the passenger seat when a friend laughed off a near miss after checking Snapchat at a red light. I didn’t laugh. I couldn’t. What if a kid had been crossing the street? What if we hadn’t been lucky?

I don’t believe recklessness is inevitable just because someone is young. I believe young people are fully capable of taking driving seriously. We just need to talk to them in ways that matter. Driver’s ed often covers signs and rules, but not enough about how mood, stress, fatigue, or even music can impair your reflexes. One moment of distraction can change someone else’s life forever.

To reduce driving-related deaths, we need to change both education and culture. High schools should require workshops on distracted and impaired driving, using real stories, survivor testimonies, and science-based education. Driving simulators that mimic dangerous conditions (rain, texting, low visibility) can help students feel the real consequences of careless decisions. We should also teach emotional awareness behind the wheel: how to recognize when you’re too tired, too upset, or too rushed to drive safely.

Technology plays an important role too. I use a driving mode app that silences texts and notifications. I keep my phone on Do Not Disturb, and I never hold it while driving. Features like blind-spot monitoring, lane assist, and emergency braking have saved lives, and more young drivers should be taught how and when to use these tools. Even something as simple as putting your phone in the glove compartment can make a difference.

But beyond education and tools, it’s culture that truly shapes behavior. I’ve seen friends roll through stop signs or speed when running late, brushing it off with a laugh. I don’t let it slide anymore. Now I say, “I’d rather be late than dead,” and I mean it. I offer to drive when someone is too tired. I speak up when someone reaches for their phone. These may seem like small actions, but they’re habits, and habits create culture. When people see that safety is non-negotiable with me, it makes them think twice. And that ripple effect can save lives.

This vigilance isn’t about fear. It’s about respect: for my own life, and for the people who depend on me. My younger sister, who just returned from a Kuwait deployment, is working her way through college, just like I am. Our mother doesn’t work, and I’m the main financial provider for our household. If something were to happen to me, we wouldn’t just be grieving; we’d be left in a crisis. I can’t afford to be careless. So I check myself before every drive: Am I clear-headed? Awake enough? Focused? If something feels off, I take a breath before starting the engine.

What keeps me grounded is this: I want to be a psychiatrist. I want to help people heal, especially those carrying invisible wounds. But to do that, I need to make it there safely. I need to protect others not just in a future clinical setting, but right now, on the road, in real time, in a 3,000-pound machine that can either carry us forward or destroy everything in a moment.

Driving isn’t something I do on autopilot. It’s something I approach with purpose. Because every time I get into my car, I remember that I’m not invincible, and neither is anyone else on the road. I have plans for my future: medical school, a life dedicated to healing. But none of it matters if I don’t make it home.

So I drive carefully, not because I’m afraid, but because I care. Because being a safe driver isn’t just a personal responsibility; it’s a way to protect the people I love, and the strangers I’ll never meet.