Just Driving? Or Really Thriving

Life has many milestones and one of the biggest ones seems to be the day you get your license. This big event opens a whole new world for teens. Being a confident driver is good, until the confidence turns into ignorance. I believe that one of the most dangerous challenges teenagers face when first learning to drive is an inflated sense of confidence. It is extremely common for teens and young adults to believe that they know everything and thus are simply immune to all consequences. An overconfident driver can look like texting while driving, or driving even though you’ve had alcohol. The lack of experience mixed with irrational decisions quickly escalates into dangerous situations. To start, cellular devices may single handedly be the most distracting object for teenagers. It may be switching music, texting a friend back, using social media, but it all takes away from a driver’s full attention on the road. Phones have quickly become more like an extension of the hand rather than an accessory. Peer pressure is dangerous because of the serious consequences it can have. Unfortunately the consequences that reckless driving brings almost always affect another person as well. Teen drivers can be pressured to drive at dangerous speeds, drive while intoxicated, or drive in an illegal manner. I believe that all of these challenges can only be overcome on a personal level by recognizing the dangerous habits and patterns and stopping them. It requires self awareness and the maturity to recognize the dangers. As for peer pressure, that can only be overcome by avoiding circumstances where you may be pressured, or by having the determination to not give in.

As new drivers enter the world every year it is crucial that they are properly educated. Specifically, teen driver safety should be a priority since they make up the great majority of new drivers. Most vehicle accidents happen because of lack of attention or reckless driving. If this age demographic is addressed from the start it may possibly be able to prevent more accidents. Because vehicle accidents are a common public safety issue there should be resources and guidelines to promote driver safety and responsibility. One of these resources that I believe should be utilized more is drivers education classes. Most high schools offer a class that may briefly address the topic of road safety, but not all. Drivers education classes should be covering all aspects of driver safety and responsibility. This should include issues like distracted driving, driving intoxicated, and common dangerous habits that drivers have. When done purposefully, the emphasis on safety becomes more evident. Since drivers education classes tend to be taken while in high school, they are one of the first exposures teens have to the consequences of driving. This means that it is crucial that students are properly educated on how to be responsible on the road, and are exposed to the awful effects of reckless driving as well.

As a student driver I am very familiar with the dangers of driving and now consider myself a more responsible driver than I was previously. Unfortunately a couple months into having my license, I was part of a four car fender bender on the freeway. I was not using my phone or driving recklessly in any way. It was just a happenstance of serious traffic on an extremely busy freeway, and not keeping a safe distance between myself and the car in front of me. Thankfully no one had any aggressive injuries but it did leave my car totaled. As part of the ticket citation I received, I was required to take an online drivers education course that was approximately 15 hours. Much to my surprise, most of the course included information and tips that I had never known before, in spite of completing a drivers education course in order to get my license. I truly believe if I had taken that in depth course before receiving my license, my accident could have been avoided. Within the drivers education course I learned specific tips to know what a responsible distance is while driving. Because of my own personal experience I am a strong advocate for more guidelines to be implemented in the process of receiving a driver’s license.

One of the biggest actions that communities can take to promote driver education is awareness and accountability. If teen drivers are not exposed to proper road safety it cannot be expected for them to have a strong grasp on positive driving habits. This should start with whoever is teaching a new driver how to drive and it is their responsibility to properly educate their teen. As teenagers, it is part of our responsibility to hold other young drivers accountable. This means that if you are driving with a friend and you see them actively using their phone or driving in a reckless manner, you should say something. Alongside recognizing the habits of those around you, it is just as important to recognize personal habits and adjust them as needed. One of the biggest ways that young drivers can be supportive of each other is by not letting peers drive intoxicated. Drunk drivers are dangerous to everyone involved and often cause serious accidents. Drunk driving should never be encouraged under any circumstances. Lastly, schools can promote safe driving by offering resources or classes to understand what it means to drive responsibly. Being licensed to drive is not an inherent right but is instead a privilege and a serious responsibility.