Name: Tristan Markgraf
From: Henderson, NV
Votes: 0
Back before modern advertising there was only one way to know something was dangerous, by watching it happen. My father rarely talks about the man who helped bring him into this world. Maybe it was because he doesn’t talk about his childhood. Maybe it’s because he was too young to remember that man. Maybe it was because that man got drunk, crashed his vehicle, leaving his wife and 6-year-old kid at home alone in a world where the man provided financially. Or maybe it’s because he just doesn’t like to talk. From my own experience I can tell you, it most definitely is NOT the last option.
Grandpa left this world with no worries, because alcohol has inhibited that part of his brain. Back then drivers ed wasn’t a big thing, you simply learned from your dad how to drive and hoped he knew enough to teach you what not to do. My dad didn’t get that option, he had high school Drivers Ed and his grandpa. Yet as all good people know, some lessons you only know once they happen. Drivers Ed is not just about how to turn a key in your ignition to start the car. It’s about teaching you everything from how to use your turn signal something people may never learn, or how to stay within the road lines, something some people will never learn. It also teaches you that not every driver on the roads has your best interests in mind, so defensive driving is just as important if not a critical necessity here on the road, especially in Nevada.
Las Vegas specifically is one of the worst places to drive ever, and there is a few reasons why. For starters, it’s a tourist town, so everyone from everywhere gets off the airplane and a good portion go and rent a car. Keep in mind that some of these people grew up driving on rural streets, others in bumper to bumper traffic. Everyone has their own view on what driving means, and when alcohol gets involved it only gets worse. Second is we are constantly plagued by orange cones, so not only are the roads filled with all sorts of drivers, but the lanes are constantly being merged and moved around for the ghosts crews that disappear whenever you look. So why does drivers ed matter in all of this? To be honest, I’m not sure it does; but if even one instructor is out there telling each one of their students why drunk driving doesn’t work, it’s going to make a difference. And if you can control your vehicle when someone else makes a poor choice, at least they do not take you down with them.
Sometimes though, you just have to hit a word count to survive in a world where scholarships are the only way to pay for college. Sometimes it takes a scholarship to pay for gas that week. Some things drivers ed can’t teach. So as a college student, it’s especially easy to get lost in the partying and drinking, and then drive home because it’s not that far. It’s 3 am, no one’s on the road. Yeah maybe, but what if there is. What if there is a family that woke the kids up for an early morning trip to Disney, and they wanted to beat the traffic before their 6 hours drive. No one’s gonna notice unless the off duty drivers ed instructor pulls up and helps the family escape the crash. Who’s gonna care until you gotta pay for your car repairs so you decide to go to the mechanic who just so happened to be the son of your drivers ed instructor. Oh and while you’re waiting in the lobby for your front bumper to be pulled back into shape, you have this wonderful conversation with this older lady who just so happens to be a drivers ed instructor getting a car repaired after a student ran over a curb at 50 miles an hour. Then finally when you get the bill it happens to be identical to your drivers ed teacher Mrs Kathy’s phone number with the area code. So you give her a call and she’s so happy to hear from you and as you’re catching up she brings up that she’s in the hospital because someone hit and ran her as she was taking her kids on an early morning day trip to Disney. Point is, driving while impaired is never cheap, and at worst, it costs you your life and the lives of others. So listen to your drivers ed instructors, cause they have experienced the lives of hundreds of students, so when they tell you it’s a bad idea, listen.
