My driving story

Hello, I am a senior at Victor Senior High School in Victor, New York. I am applying to the 2025 Drivers Ed Essay Contest. I will be graduating high school in June 2025 and will be attending Snow College in Utah in Fall 2025.

At 16, I first obtained my NYS learners permit. I took lessons from a local school bus driver and learned so much from my lessons. Due to my schedule, I took the 5-hour pre-licensing course. I was ready to take my road test at the DMV. I was very nervous at my road test and I failed my first time. They were training and I had two evaluators in the car with me which made me nervous. A littler over a week after my 1^st try, I scheduled for the 2^nd road test and I passed easily. I learned to be more confident the 2^nd time around and asked questions back to the evaluator if I did not understand. I know we can reduce the number of deaths related to driving if we gain more knowledge about driving and obeying the laws.

I feel I am more aware of the law because as soon as I received my permit, I had to mark that I had a medical disability that could impair my driving. I have epilepsy and I had to have my neurologist do an exam and fill out paperwork with the DMV. I did driving lessons and was able to pass my test to obtain my license. I was so excited. Unfortunately, I had a seizure at home and my neurologist stated that I could not drive. For a teenager, that is unbearable but I followed the rules. I did another exam and notified the DMV. Fortunately, NYS medical unit approved me to drive again. I have to do another exam in January 2026 and notify the DMV. I understand why this is done so I can make sure I am safe to drive. I don’t want to unintentionally hurt someone else on the road.

During the time I could not drive, I was getting a ride with a co-worker to go to work. The co-worker went onto the NYS Thruway and was going speeds of 110 mph. I did tell her to slow down which she did. I told my parents and my parents also saw on my Life 360 account how fast I was going in her car. They immediately told me never to ride in the car with her again and I complied. I did not feel safe and agreed not to take a ride from her again. My parents also created a driving contract where I signed to keep my driving privileges of the car that I would obey the law and not participate in any reckless driving. I would wear my seat belt, avoid distractions such as no cell phone use, playing load music or even driving if I am emotionally upset. I feel a lot of accidents happen when people are emotional and crying. They cannot see the road and will drive too fast. At first, I did not like the driving contract that my parents had me sign and thought it was too restrictive but now I appreciate it now. It keeps me focused that I can not disobey my parent’s trust and I should obey the rules of the road.

One time I was in a small accident with my mother. She was at a stop sign waiting for traffic and an older lady just turned right into her from the main road. No one was hurt but I screamed. The older lady apologized and stated she did not see us there. Even that was scary though it was a minor fender bender.

You can take a lot of steps to be a safe driver. My family currently uses Life360 and with our membership we can monitor how fast we go as the app will also tell us if we had hard braking. We can adjust our driving habits. I also registered with our local police department with “handle with care registry” and recommend anyone to do so if they have a medical condition. The registry will provide feedback to a deputy if I have a medical episode while driving and they can see my medical condition and have a better knowledge to handle the situation. I also recommend that people take the 6-hour defensive driving course. This will help anyone to strengthen their driving skills and improve driving habits that are not safe.