Teen Driver Safety

From personal experience in a car accident my view on driving has drastically changed. As the days leading up to by permit test, I read the safety handbook front and back, I quizzed myself on the rules of the road. Even as a passenger with family or friends instead of relaxing in the back seat I was constantly observing the road ahead. Even during long road trips when my parents believed I was asleep instead I would keep my eyes open to ensure that no cars came near our car. Once my friends and I got our license we witnessed several of our peers and random people making unsafe decisions while driving. Any small movement you make on the wheel can change your life or others, whether you don’t break smoothly, or your car starts drifting towards another lane, once you’re behind the wheel you are now in control of an object that can be used as a weapon.

Teen driver safety is not just important for the teen themselves; it is as well for others around the road. If teens don’t understand fully the rules of the road how anyone can expect any common sense while driving. Don’t get me wrong everyone makes mistakes, even those with 10 years of experience behind the wheel. However, no one especially a teens guardian can’t expect their child to understand the rule of the road or even being a smart driver if they have no experience or a certain number of hours before obtaining their license.

For teens now since my generation and forever, more issues have been raised with the constant use of technology. Phones have always been at our disposal and have added another factor to unsafe driving. No matter the notification our minds have been trained to check and respond to the “ding”. As well the emerging group of teens have been brought up with either YouTube or TikTok, even for adults this has caused short attention snap which is deadly for all drivers. Once you’re behind the wheel all your senses need to be heightened and awareness of the people around you, road signs and other vehicles. Putting aside the technology factor, parents have also caused challenges for teen drivers. Several don’t care to put time aside to properly teach the rules of the road or even help when they’re learning how to drive. Another factor that causes challenges for teens that many may not even notice is guardians setting a curfew. I know from personal experience when my parents set a time for me to be home the whole night I am aware of the time which is good however, especially one night there was a freeway closure and I was already rushing home because I feared missing my curfew, thankfully my parents were understanding however not all parents are aware of the risk teens place on themselves to be home at curfew. Many teens speed, cut cars off and even run red lights, all these put the driver and other vehicles around them in danger. I think it’s important for teens to place their phone on do not disturb, for me this only allows my parents and brother messages and calls to go through, this is in case of an emergency scenario. Teens need to talk with their guardians about curfew before they leave the house and plan a time to leave whatever the event is and if there’s traffic or, they are unfortunate to hit every single red light, this relieves the stress of not getting home at a certain time.

From my personal experience when driving my friends around is the amounts of calls everyone gets. Even though cars now have Bluetooth with our teen brains that are still developing multitasking isn’t one of our strongest skills. When my friends and I have group hangouts there’s always a parent that is constantly calling their child. It’s reasonable as to why they worry since it can get late however if the driver is the one having to receive the call, they have to manage driving in the dark and conversing with their parents. Or when it’s someone else’s parent that’s becoming insistent on wanting to know every detail or even changes to the time, they have to be home, this urgency of not wanting to get yourself and a friend in trouble can lead to unsafe driving. I understand I am not a parent however it’s important that parents are aware of the danger they can place their child in. Even though they want their child to obey their rules, be home on time, and overall be safe, several of their actions can lead to all these “wants” being broken.

One thing that can ensure that all future drivers understand basic drivers’ education is by putting Drivers ED back into high school curriculum. Nowadays with the use of driving apps such as Uber teens are delaying when they get their license. Several people even some of my peers wait until they’re eighteen to finally take their permit and driver’s license test to avoid doing the mandatory driver’s training hours. With putting Driver’s Ed back into the curriculum this provides no choice but to pay attention and learn the proper rules of driving.