Name: Collin Edward Holmes
From: Houston, Texas
Votes: 9
Teen driving safety is a very important issue for public roads. It affects not just teens, but everyone who shares the road with them. Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. This is due to their lack of driving experience and greater unpredictability on the road. This alone should make teen driving a safety concern for everyone on the road.
The best way to address this is to start at the root cause: insufficient driver education. By attending a thorough driver education class, a teen can learn responsibility for themselves and those around them. It will also teach them to drive more cautiously and improve their perception on the road. The driver education we need should focus on real-world situations and the challenges teens actually face on the road, not just parking and basic maneuvers on side streets and local freeways.
The education should include examples of what can happen when a driver is distracted, like texting, or impaired, like drinking while driving. Doing either or both of these while driving is not only illegal in the U.S., but also increases the risk of injury or even death for the driver and passengers. Implementing these lessons into driver education helps emphasize the importance of being cautious on the road, not just for the teen, but for everyone else as well.
One of the biggest challenges teen drivers face today is the distraction caused by cell phones, which, especially with new technologies, is responsible for the most preventable crashes and deaths. This leads to the teen focusing on the phone instead of driving, which should never be more important than the safety of the driver, their passengers and others on the road.
Another challenge new teen drivers face, which is not often addressed in driver education, is peer pressure and the desire to impress others. A teen driver may feel pressured into racing or reckless driving, putting themselves in danger. This is why the first few years of driving are the most dangerous.
One morning at my high school, an upperclassman was driving to school on a long, straight road near campus when he decided to race his friends to see who could get there first. The student collided with a smaller car driven by a single mother on her way to work. The car caught fire on impact, and tragically, she passed away. Because of this incident and his poor decision, both his life and the lives of the other driver’s family, including her young children, were forever changed. This could have easily been avoided if he had chosen not to street race and instead focused on getting to school safely.
Teens should view driving as a privilege and take the responsibility seriously for being safer drivers, both for themselves and for others on the road. Teens can demonstrate responsible driving habits by avoiding distractions and resisting peer pressure. Putting cell phones away and using silent mode while driving is imperative. If it is crucial for the driver to send a text or make a call before arriving at their destination, many cars now have an option to use Bluetooth or the car’s infotainment system to speak the text or to initiate the call, all while maintaining focus on the road.
Another way to make the roads safer is by involving the local community. It is important to talk about driving with friends, family, and even teachers at school, discussing the importance of staying focused and feeling confident when driving in various situations. Additionally, an officer from the local police department could speak with a group of teen drivers to instill safe driving habits and highlight the dangers of inexperienced driving, using real-life examples that resonate with the audience.
These conversations should happen regularly to shift the perception that reckless driving is fun and acceptable, and instead promote the idea that safety is cool before something bad happens. Making the roads safer starts with our communities’ youngest drivers, as they will eventually grow up, teach the next generation, and help create a world with fewer automobile injuries and deaths.
Driving is a privilege that most people will eventually have, and the way you drive reflects the kind of person you are. Behind the wheel, you must be mature, focused, and responsible. By addressing the root of teen driving safety, we can create a generation of drivers who prioritize safety and responsibility.
Overcoming these challenges requires education, self-discipline, and a commitment to staying focused on the road. It is also crucial for parents to set a good example behind the wheel, as teens are likely to follow both the good and bad habits they observe. These habits may be challenging to change, but we all need to commit to this to drastically decrease teen crashes and deaths.
