Education: Driving Us Into the Future

I still remember my
close encounter with death like it was yesterday. My theater
practice was cancelled, so I decided to stay at my school’s library
to do some extra studying. I did not plan to stay long, but I
quickly lost track of time. When I walked out of the library, I
discovered that a snowstorm had begun. It was extremely difficult to
see, so I proceeded to drive home at a slow, steady pace. I thought
that I would be okay until a car from the other lane swerved into my
lane. I quickly steered the car to the edge of the road and heard a
thud. Panicked, I looked to my left rear-view mirror to check the
side of my vehicle only to discover that the mirror itself was gone!
I pulled over and found that fortunately, the only thing damaged was
my left rear-view mirror. I called the highway patrol and reported
the accident, but the culprit was nowhere to be found.

If I had not taken
evasive action, I might not be alive to tell this tale. When I was
learning how to drive, my parents trained me to be aware of all the
dangers on the road. That education was crucial to my survival
during that snowstorm and my continued safety as an active driver. I
believe that the way to reduce the deaths in driving accidents is to
educate young drivers. This is one of the reasons why I volunteer
once a month with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the 4-H CARTEENS
program. The car is in CARTEENS stands for caution and
responsibility, and the teens it is focused on are teen traffic
offenders.

If we want to reduce
the amount of deaths due to driving, we need to expand educational
programs like CARTEENS to all young drivers. The issue is not that
people are evil and intending to cause harm, rather that they are not
fully aware of how dangerous driving can be. Most people speed
because of desperation or fall victim to a lead foot and thrill seek.
I hear this often when I volunteer at CARTEENS. Whenever
participants in the program do distracted driving activities or
listen to the graphic stories from highway patrol officers who
regularly see the worst possible scenarios, many teenagers show a
change of heart and vow to become better drivers. In fact, data has
shown a significant reduction in second-time offenses for
participants in CARTEENS.

If you want to make a big difference, make a small change. If you
educate young drivers to be careful and alert, they will become the
safe, responsible drivers that we need them to be. Do your part and
spread the word, whether this is with some of your own family members
or by volunteering at a program like CARTEENS. If we want to stop
this growing epidemic, we need to treat the disease and not the
symptom.